'm watching the news. Where the hell's everyone going?
Nate Home. The war's over.
Just like that? We're going to leave the ****in' country to the communists?
Nate We been here since 1961, Frank.
I haven't!
Frank Lucas
Denzel Washington · 23 quotes
Det. Richie Roberts
Russell Crowe · 22 quotes
Cattano
Armand Assante · 4 quotes
Toback
Ted Levine · 4 quotes
Trupo
Josh Brolin · 4 quotes
US Attorney
Roger Bart · 4 quotes
Elwsorth "Bumpy" Johnson
3 quotes
Most scenes together: Frank Lucas & Det. Richie Roberts (5), Det. Richie Roberts & Toback (3), Det. Richie Roberts & US Attorney (3)
American Gangster quotes
Page 2 of 4 Nate Nate I just heard something. I said it couldn't be true. You didn't really turn in a million dollars you found in the trunk of a car, did you? Want me to tell you what happened to it? It ended up in cops' pockets.
Maybe.
Maybe? No. It did. All you did was give it to them for nothing in return. Not nothing: You got their contempt. Why'd you do that? What're you trying to prove, you're better than them? You're not better than them. You are them.
I don't have the time or interest to listen to this-
You did it because it was right. That's all. Why's that hard to say? The question is would you do it again? That was a long time ago. It'd be very easy to find out. Tell me you want to find out, tell me the address, and a car will be there, the trunk loaded.
No, thanks.
Let me ask you something. You think by putting me in jail, you're going to stop even one junkie from dying? Because you won't. If it isn't me, it'll be someone else. With me or without me, nothing's going to change.
Then that's the way it is.
Now, I got no problem with you showin' up in court tomorrow with your head blown in half.
Get in line. That one stretches around the block too.
What is this?
Huey Lucas What? This? These are clothes.
Yeah that.
Huey This is a very, very, very nice suit.
That's a very, very, very nice suit, huh?
Huey Lucas Yeah.
That's a clown suit. That's a costume, with a big sign on it that says "Arrest me". You understand? You're too loud, you're making too much noise. Listen to me, the loudest one in the room is the weakest one in the room.
I was talking to my lawyers. They said something to me, I can't believe it. Did you really find a million dollars in the trunk of a car and then turn it in? Did you do that?
Yeah.
You did that for real, huh? My man. Good for you. Shit. You know Johnny Law got it though, right?
Maybe.
Ain't no maybe about it, Mr Richie. You know he got it. You turned that money in, he took it and you ain't get nothing for it. Did you? Why did you do that?.
It was the right thing to do.
That's true. That's a good answer. It was the right thing to do. The question I have, the question I've been asking myself is, would you do it again? I mean, that's a lot of money, that's a long time ago. Many car payments ago, many child support payments ago. So I said to myself, the onlyest way to find out is to find out... Now, you give me an address, I'll make sure the car's there, I'll make sure that money's in that trunk.
No, thanks.
Come on, now, Richie. What do you think, that impresses me? You think that you're better than them? You ain't no better than them other cops. In fact, you're the same as them. You are them. Let me ask you this. Do you really think that putting me behind bars is going to change anything on them streets? Them dope fiends is gonna shoot it, they're gonna steal for it, they're gonna die for it. Putting me in or out ain't gonna change one thing.
Then that’s the way it is.
That's just the way it is. So what we got, Richie? We got me and you sitting here. We got that little snitch-ass driver for my brother. You got a little bit of powder. You're going to need more than that, Richie.
I got possession, supply, conspiracy, bribing a law officer. I got people who'll attest to seeing you kill in cold blood. I got your offshore bank accounts, your real estate, your businesses, all bought with money from heroin. And I got hundreds of parents of dead kids. Addicts who OD'ed on your product. And that's my story for the jury. That's how I make it all stick. "This man murdered thousands of people. And he did it from a penthouse, driving a Lincoln." Aside from that, you got nothing to worry about.
(chuckles)
That's pretty good. But that's why we go to court, isn't it, Richie? 'Cause I got witnesses, too. I got celebrities. I got sports figures. I got Harlem, Richie. I took care of Harlem, so Harlem's gonna take care of me. You can believe that.
I got more than that, Frank.
What you got?
I've got a line of people wanting to testify against you, it stretches out the door and around the block. You damaged a lot of lives, Frank. I got the Mazzano crime family. Remember those boys? You put them out of business.
I ain't got nothing to do with no Mazzanos. Mazzanos ain't got nothing to do with me.
They got everything to do with you.
What, they...
You know why?
Why?
Because apart from the fact that they hate you personally, they hate what you represent.
I don't represent nothing but Frank Lucas.
You sure? A black businessman like you? You represent progress. The kind of progress that's going to see them lose a lot of money. With you out of the way, everything can return to normal.
My man. (sips coffee) You know what normal is to me, Richie? I ain't seen normal since I was six years old. Normal is seeing the police ride up to my house dragging my little 12-year-old cousin out, tying him to a pole, shoving a shotgun in his mouth so hard they bust his teeth. Then they bust two shotgun shells in his head and knock his **** head off. That's what normal is to me. I didn't give a **** about no police then. (knocks his coffee aside) I don't give a **** about no police now. Shit. You know what, you can do whatever you want to do. So, it don't mean nothing to me for you to show up tomorrow morning with your head blown off. Do you understand what I'm saying?
Yeah, Frank. Get in line. That one stretches around the block too.
All right. What do you want to do?
What do you want me to do? Snitch, huh? I know you don't want me to give up no cops. What do you want? You want gangsters? Pick one. Jew gangsters, Mick gangsters, Guineas? They been bleeding Harlem dry since they got off the boat, Richie. I don't give a **** about no crime figures. You can have them.
I'll take them too.
You'll take them, too? (laughs) No, you didn't. You're talking about police. You want police? You want your own kind?
They're not my kind. They're in business with you, Frank. They ain't my kind. They ain't my kind like the Italians are not yours. All right?
Huh. (nods and passes back Richie's coffee to him) What can you promise me, Richie?
I can promise you, you lie about one name- you'll never get out of prison. You lie about one dollar, in one offshore account- you'll never get out of prison. (sips coffee) Now you can be live life rich in jail for the rest of your born days... Or be poor outside for some of them. That's what I can promise you.
I want them cops, Richie. That's what I want, I want them cops that took that money out of my pockets.
Rivera It's the same thing. In principle.
We're talking about principle?
Rivera Richie, a cop who turns in this kind of money says one thing: He'll turn in cops who take money. We'll be pariahs.
We're **** either way.
Rivera Not if we keep it. Only if we don't. Then we're ****, you're right. But not if we keep it.
Yes, we are.
Rivera Goddamn it, did we ask for this? Did we put a gun to someone's head and say, Give us your money? Cops kill cops they can't trust. We can't turn it in.
Bandage his head.
Paramedic Detective ... he's dead.
I know he's **** dead. Bandage his head, clean him up, put him on a gurney and prop it up so he's sitting. And open his eyes.
I want to know everyone you've met for the last twenty years. Everyone you sold to. Every cop you ever paid off. Every one who ever stole from you. Every one you remember.
Oh, I remember them all. That's not the problem.
What is?
The jail's aren't big enough.
INS, FBI, IRS - I can't get anything out of them. Nothing on his travel, his bank accounts, property holdings - nothing.
That's because they all think you're on the take and you think they are.
They don't want this to stop. It employs too many people. Cops, lawyers, judges, probation officers, prison guards. The day dope stops coming into this country, a hundred thousand people lose their jobs.
The warrant permits me to search the plane and its cargo.
[Soldiers aim their rifles at Richie] )
Captain
But you don't have my permission.
I don't need it.
What the **** is a microwave?
Tony
It's a scientific force like atomic energy. It rearranges the molecules.
Of what?
Tony
Of anything. Of popcorn. You don't want to put your head in there.
You going to the fight?
Spearman I don't like boxing.
It's not about boxing, it's about politics.
Tango What the **** you gonna do Frank, huh? You gonna shoot me, in front of everybody? Huh? Come on...
Tobuck
Richie, a detective who doesn't have the cooperation of his fellow detectives can't be effective.
You know why I don't have it.
Doesn't matter.
No, they're all on the take and 'm not and it doesn't matter to anyone. Instead of giving you a medal for turning in money, they bury you.