Former DEA Agents File Lawsuit Against American Gangster
What happens when you make a movie based on a true story and then decide to embellish on that truth? Well, in the case of NBC Universal, the studio behind Ridley Scott’s American Gangster, you get slapped with a multi-million dollar lawsuit! Three former Drug Enforcement Administration officers are suing them for $55 million, claiming that the movie put forth lies that have “tarnished hundreds of reputations”. It seems they have an issue with the epilogue at the end of the film stating that three-quarters of New York City’s Drug Enforcement Agency were convicted. NBC Universal feels that it was made clear that the text was referring to the NYPD, not the Federal DEA for which the plaintiffs worked.
What I want to know is, does a lawsuit like this actually have merit? Does a movie claiming to be “based on a true story” have any sort of obligation to stick to the facts? Legally I don’t think they do. I seems that artistic and creative freedom should allow for someone to take some liberties. I suppose you could argue that morally maybe there is some obligation there, but I think most people understand that this is a movie. We’ve heard reports of many other elements of the film that are completely fictional, but should we really care? According to lawyer Dominic Amorosa, “The only reason people went to see the film is because they thought it was a true story when really it is a pack of lies”. I beg to differ. The only reason people went to see it is because it starred Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe… end of story.
Comments (5)
Well.. I would have gone to see the film even if it had not been based on a true story, but I definitely feel like I’ve been had. I thought the movie presented the US military as a pretty dubious organisation and that the actions the military took in this situation (which I thought were based on true events, but I guess it was just made up?) were absolutely despicable. Knowing nothing about the situation, I would not assume that something as major and outrageous as that would have been made up, and I think it’s definitely morally wrong to present actions like that as based on true events.
If somebody made Hitler: The Movie starring Russell Crowe, and it presented him as the savior of all the jews in the world, and as somebody who wanted to establish equal civil rights in all the world, and claimed that it was based on a true story, I would hope that somebody would sue those people as well. Even if the film starred Russel Crowe and Denzel Washington.
Posted by Henrik on January 21st, 2008No the military taking part in the smuggling was true, the only thing that wasn’t true (pertaining to this lawsuit) was the fact that 3/4 of the NYPD was involved in corrupt dealings.
Posted by Mike on January 21st, 2008I read somewhere else that how the military was involved and the way to traffic stuff specifically was made up as well though.
Posted by Henrik on January 21st, 2008There’s an “American Gangster” tv doc that covers the same story and it talks about the smuggling about the same way.
Posted by Mike on January 22nd, 2008I am more calm then… I would hate for me to have less reasons for thinking the US Military is a despicable organisation.
Posted by Henrik on January 22nd, 2008Leave a Reply