Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe in one movie — who wouldn’t want to see it? Well if, like me, you suffered through their 1995 cyber-stinker “Virtuosity,” you might be skeptical. But never fear, the now matured powerhouse headliners join forces for the intense, well-acted and mostly well-told crime drama “American Gangster.”

They are led into the underworld of ’70s-era Harlem drug dealing and police corruption by an alpha director able to handle their huge screen presences, Ridley Scott (“Gladiator”). His fact-based account of heroin kingpin Frank Lucas’ rise and fall has Washington as the violent anti-hero with admirable family values and Crowe taking the part of incorruptible law enforcer/womanizer Detective Richie Roberts. Both actors inject their customary levels of authority and excitement into their refreshingly complicated characters, though this project doesn’t represent the most affecting work of either one.