4. Frank Lucas & Richie Roberts (American Gangster)
Ridley Scott's underrated crime flick American Gangster is based on the life of mega-criminal Frank Lucas (Denzel Washington), who smuggled Heroin into the U.S. from Vietnam, while being chased by doggedly determined Detective Richie Roberts (Russell Crowe). As is often the case with crime dramas of this sort, the end result is considerably more sexed-up than the truth, for while the actual Frank Lucas originally expressed joy that an actor of Washington's caliber was to play him, he did note that it really wasn't in any way an accurate movie, and exaggerated much of the story for cinematic effect. On the other side of the law, Roberts was decidedly more vocal about his misgivings with the film, lambasting the filmmakers for completely fabricating the fact that he had a child, and also for portraying Lucas as "almost noble", as tends to be a tradition in many gangster flicks. Several DEA Agents involved with the case also tried to sue the filmmakers for depicting them as hapless idiots, but the case was quashed because none of them are actually identified by name (which, to be honest, is fair enough).