Denzel Washington's Version Of The Godfather Is One Of The 21st Century's Best Gangster Movies & It's Free To Stream

Published Sep 21, 2026, 9:00 PM EDT

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Denzel Washington is one of the strongest performers in Hollywood, and his The Godfather-like gangster movie from 2007 is now available to stream for free. Throughout all the best gangster movies, there has been a strong focus on characters and performances, which have helped to balance the complex scale of their often harrowing and violent drama.

The Godfather remains one of the most celebrated movies of all time, and for good reason. With a fantastic Godfather cast that includes some of the best performers who have ever been seen on screen, from Marlon Brando to Al Pacino, the classic film tells a complex story about family, immigration, and the corrupting allure of terrifying and violent power.

Of course, The Godfather was made in 1972, and there have been many other fantastic gangster movies in the years since. Martin Scorsese's Goodfellas is an enormous highlight from 1990, as have his films The Departed and The Irishman. Still, there are even more filmmakers besides Francis Ford Coppola and Scorsese who have meaningfully added to the genre.

A 2007 film from the fantastic Ridley Scott is a stellar example of this. While Ridley Scott is largely known for films including Alien and Gladiator, he has had one of the most accomplished and diverse careers in all of Hollywood. And one of his best contributions to cinema came with this adaptation of a thrilling true-crime story.

American Gangster Has One Of Denzel Washington's Best Performances

American Gangster features Denzel Washington in one of the best roles of his career. While the actor had already played such iconic and memorable figures as Malcolm X and Rubin "The Hurricane" Carter, it is his turn here as Frank Lucas, heroin kingpin of Harlem, that might be the strongest of them all.

Washington is often quiet and calculating in the film, but also reaches into terrifying violence when necessary. His performance is dynamic and does a fantastic job of realizing the complex criminal on the screen. Thanks to this performance, American Gangster is easily among the best Denzel Washington movies.

Lucas is hardly a hero, and Washington put a lot of effort into studying the real man behind the role before filming. Largely coming off as an anti-hero rather than a villain, the complex character that he constructs from Gangs of New York scribe Steven Zaillian's excellent script remains one of the best seen in any 2000s film.

American Gangster Is A Towering 21st Century Gangster Movie

American Gangster is one of the strongest gangster movies of the 21st century. The film does an excellent job telling its story in tandem, with a focus on both Frank Lucas' rise and the parallel story of the detective working to hunt him down.

This format added to the tension by examining both the hunter and the hunted, resulting in some genuinely satisfying storytelling.

In addition to Denzel Washington, the film features several other great performances. Russel Crowe plays Detective Richie Roberts, and the rest of the cast is filled out with other excellent names, including Chiwetel Ejiofor, Josh Brolin, Idris Elba, Carla Gugino, and countless others.

While there have been many great gangster movies through the years, few great filmmakers have meaningfully added to the canon other than Scorsese in the 21st century. Seeing a skilled hand as strong as Ridley Scott's on this movie helped to make the resulting project a fantastic and memorable entry in that legacy.

American Gangster Is Free To Stream, But Be Quick

American Gangster is now streaming for free, but it won't be available for long. The film will be available on the ad-supported streamer Tubi for the rest of the month before leaving on October 1st.

American Gangster is certainly a must-watch on the streamer. A powerful crime epic, the 157-minute film is worth seeing for its impeccable performances, excellent direction, and effective creative approach to telling its complex true story.

Few gangster movies reach the heights of American Gangster. Thanks to Denzel Washington's superlative work at the center of the film, it has already become a modern classic.