Factual error: If you pay attention to the backgrounds of the scene where Frank is in the airport and when Frank is being arrested as he walks from the church, you can see two cars pass by which weren't produced until at least 2000.
American Gangster (2007)
Directed by: Ridley Scott
Starring: Denzel Washington, Russell Crowe, Cuba Gooding Jr., Josh Brolin, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Armand Assante
Factual error: At the end of the film, the subtitles say that Frank was convicted and incarcerated from 1976 to 1991, which implies a continuous sentence. Lucas was actually paroled in 1981, and served a separate sentence for other drug-related offenses from 1984-91.
Factual error: In a shot in Harlem, a Ford Econoline AVIS rental truck drives on the adjacent street. The specific Econoline van was at least a mid-90's to 2000+ model van and the movie takes place in the 70s.
Richie Roberts: This man murdered thousands, and he did it from a penthouse and driving a Lincoln.
Question: What was the whole thing of not wanting to turn in the $987,000 they found in the car because it would make them appear untrustworthy? Why would all cops distrust them for handing it in? I get that dirty cops would be annoyed but when they were counting it in the precinct, every cop was drawing them daggers.
Question: The pharmacist from Desperate Housewives called Russell Crowe a kike. What's that?
Answer: "Kike" is an ethnic slur that refers to Jews. To elaborate, when illiterate Jewish immigrants would be asked to sign their names on Ellis Island, they would simply put a circle on the signature line. The Yiddish word for "circle" is "kikel."
Question: When Denzil and his new wife are traveling home from their wedding, they are stopped by the crooked SIU cops. When they get home, Denzil goes straight upstairs, gets the fur coat his wife bought him and throws it on the fire. Why did he do this? The look on his face suggests he is angry at his wife, but I can't figure out why.
Answer: The expensive and flashy fur coat (150,000 dollars) makes him extremely noticeable to police. Before the fight, he has been under the radar, but believes the gaudy clothes have given him away as a person with too much money, which gets the police to investigate him.
Answer: The other person who answered is correct but I want to add a little bit more detail. Earlier in the film, Frank chides his cousin at the club for wearing a flashy suit because he said it brings him too much attention. Frank's lapse in judgment in wearing the very expensive mink fur coat out in public as well as shaking hands with Muhammad Ali in front of everybody is ironic because his behavior contradicts what he told his cousin earlier. He is upset because he is now being forced to pay even more bribes, and he's probably upset with himself for not heeding his own advice on staying low key.
Join the mailing list
Separate from membership, this is to get updates about mistakes in recent releases. Addresses are not passed on to any third party, and are used solely for direct communication from this site. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Check out the mistake & trivia books, on Kindle and in paperback.
Answer: The idea is if cops wouldn't take a million dollars for themselves, free and clear without risk, they are impeccably honest. Therefore, they wouldn't accept bribes and probably not hold still for shakedowns or payoffs. They wouldn't cover up drug or weapon planting and would testify against crooked cops.