Looking for a mobster movie to watch tonight? Don't be a wise guy — we'll make you an offer you can't refuse. Here are the 7 toughest gangster movies on Netflix right now.
The Irishman (2019)
Director: Martin Scorcese
Writers: Steven Zaillian, Charles Brandt
Cast: Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci, Al Pacino, Harvey Keitel, Anna Paquin
Based on a true story told in Charles Brandt's book I Heard You Paint Houses, The Irishman stars De Niro as truck driver Frank Sheeran, who goes to work as a hitman for a Pennsylvania crime family under mob boss Russell Bufalino (Pesci). He also works for the famous teamster Jimmy Hoffa (Pacino), who has ties to organized crime.
The Big Ugly (2020)
Director: Scott Wiper
Writers: Scott Wiper, Paul Tarantino
Cast: Malcolm McDowell, Vinnie Jones, Ron Perlman, Lenora Crichlow, Nicholas Braun
Malcolm McDowell plays a London mobster who orders his right hand man, Neelyn (Vinnie Jones) to go to West Virginia to set up a money laundering scheme with an oilman (Ron Perlman). But when Neelyn suspects the oilman's son of killing his girlfriend (Lenora Crichlow), he seeks revenge.
The Outsider (2018)
Director: Martin Pieter Zandvliet
Writer: Andrew Baldwin
Cast: Jared Leto, Tadanobu Asano, Kippei Shiina, Rory Cochrane, Shioli Kutsuna, Emile Hirsch
Set in 1954, Jared Leto plays an American prison of war who stays in Japan after World War II and joins the yakuza, the Japanese mafia.
Ferry (2021)
Director: Cecilia Verheyden
Writers: Nico Moolenaar, Bart Uytdenhouwen
Cast: Frank Lammers, Elise Schaap, Huub Stapel, Raymond Thiry, Monic Hendrickx, Huub Smit, Juliette van Ardenne
This Dutch-language movie follows Ferry Bouman (Frank Lammers), the future leader of a drug empire who goes back to his home town seeking revenge. There, he finds his loyalty tested, encountering a love that changes his life. The movie serves as a prequel to the Netflix series Undercover.
American Gangster (2007)
Director: Ridley Scott
Writers: Steven Zaillian, Mark Jacobson
Cast: Denzel Washington, Russell Crowe, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Cuba Gooding, Jr., Josh Brolin, Ted Levine, Lymari Nadal, Carla Gugino, Idris Elba, Ruby Dee
American Gangster is a biographical drama that fictionalizes the life of real-life gangster Frank Lucas, based on a New York Magazine article called The Return of Superfly. Lucas was known for smuggling heroin into the U.S. on military planes returning from Vietnam and becoming one of the most powerful crime lords in New York during the 1970s. Washington plays Lucas and Crowe plays detective Richie Roberts, who notices that Lucas is more powerful than the Italian mafia and tries to capture him.
The Highwaymen (2019)
Director: John Lee Hancock
Writer: John Fusco
Cast: Woody Harrelson, Kevin Costner, Kathy Bates, Kim Dickens, Emily Brobst, Edward Bossert, John Carroll Lynch, Thomas Mann
Set in the 1930s, The Highwaymen tells the true story of a pair of retired Texas Rangers (Harrelson and Costner) who come out of retirement to capture the famous criminals Bonnie and Clyde, who traveled America with their gang committing robberies and murdering people during the Great Depression.
Black Mass (2015)
Director: Scott Cooper
Writers: Mark Mallouk, Jez Butterworth
Cast: Johnny Depp, Joel Edgerton, Benedict Cumberbatch, Rory Cochrane, Jesse Plemons, Kevin Bacon
This movie is based on the true story of American mobster Whitey Bulger, played by Depp. It's based on Dick Lehr and Gerard O'Neill's 2000 book Black Mass: The True Story of an Unholy Alliance Between the FBI and the Irish Mob. Bulger was the leader of Boston's Winter Hill Gang in the 1970s, controlling much of the city's organized crime while his brother holds a position of power in the state Senate. But when Whitey makes a deal with an FBI agent, things get out of hand.
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Main Image: A still from Ferry, Netflix