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American Gangster

2007 · directed by Ridley Scott · 157 min
24,783 feet · Prominence
567th of 24,106 films scored
The Rewatchables‘American Gangster’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan →

How this film scores

Draw69

Lifetime worldwide gross $270m, re-releases included; about $429m in 2026 money.

Rank756 of 11,051In 200719 of 320

How Draw works

Inflation-adjusted worldwide box office, on one global curve, and nothing else. It does not know whether a film was good.

Praise84

Awards claim half the headroom above the critics' score.

Critics79 baseAwards53 signal → +6 lift

Oscars2 nominated Supporting Actress, Production Design
Golden Globes3 nominated Best Picture, Lead acting, Screenplay
BAFTAs3 nominated Best Picture, Screenplay, Craft and other
How Praise works

Critics set the score; a tiered award record, Picture and Directing carrying the most weight, claims half the headroom above it. Praise is the verdict at the time; Legacy is the verdict since.

Legacy55

Judged directly: Solid crime drama, moderate staying power.

Verdict55 of 100IMDb7.8 from 483kWikipedia65k views a monthAge19 years

Scored beside it · 759 of 4,039 films judged

If it does not belong in this company, the number is wrong.

How Legacy works

Legacy is a judgment, not a formula. A film can be adored by critics and culturally quiet, or lightly reviewed and permanently lodged in the culture, and no arithmetic over IMDb numbers tells the difference. Every signal behind it keeps updating.

draw 69 praise 84 legacy 55averages 69, placing it at24,783 ft
How the three become one number

Added, not multiplied, so a film transcendent on one pillar and weak on another is not zeroed out. A compression curve then squeezes the top, because the seven greatest films ever made should not be four thousand feet apart.

Whose apex this is

▲ Denzel Washington

In these careers — elevation for this film

Denzel Washington20,417 ftRussell Crowe19,917 ftJosh Brolin18,801 ftChiwetel Ejiofor18,531 ftCuba Gooding Jr.18,249 ftArmand Assante18,177 ftTed Levine17,997 ftIdris Elba17,665 ftJohn Hawkes17,658 ftCarla Gugino17,654 ftRuby Dee17,649 ftCommon17,647 ftJoe Morton17,645 ftJohn Ortiz17,638 ftRoger Bart17,637 ft