The Young Americans

R

1993

1h 44m

Mystery & Thriller

List

33%

6 Reviews

Tomatometer

42%

500+ Ratings

Audience Score

New York City drug enforcement officer John Harris (Harvey Keitel) travels to London to help ineffective local policemen battle a powerful drug cartel. Harris needs to put behind bars American ex-pat Carl Frazer (Viggo Mortensen), who recruits rebellious young teens as foot soldiers in his enterprise. With help from British officer Edward Foster (Iain Glen), Harris must navigate London's seedy, drug-fueled underworld in order to take down Frazer's criminal operation.

Read More

Read Less

Audience Member

In order to appreciate the significance of this film you have to understand the British culture and society and how the criminal underground vs. law enforcement works. If you do it will be a masterpiece in comparing how the American way of life differs and yet remains an iconic force to British criminals. Great performances and direction all the way around.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/17/23

Full Review

Audience Member

good gritty crime drama

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

01/21/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Totally underrated and perhaps misunderstood movie. perfectly documented the climate of the crime scene in the UK at the time and along with amazing performances from the entire cast, the Bjork & David Arnold Soundtrack "Play Dead" was - in my opinion - one of the most underrated Soundtracks of all time. For once a director made London look like the international metropolis that it really is and not some cozy little village that previous British movies had portrayed UK Cities to be. Perhaps if anything, it was a movie that could only, really, truly be appreciated by British Citizens and moreover, those of us that had the misfortune to experience their own apportionment of the ugly behavior that was a reality at the time and perhaps still is. One of my all time favorites. 5 Stars

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/06/23

Full Review

Audience Member

great movie and a great soundtrack

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

01/23/23

Full Review

Audience Member

a hidden gem,great keitel movie

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

01/23/23

Full Review

Audience Member

I remember going to see this back in 1993 and then forgetting all about it for nearly 20 years until i picked up a copy on DVD . The strange thing is despite the mixed reviews the film got at the time its actually not that bad and it contains two great central performances From Harvey Keitel and Viggo Mortensen. The premise is simple Keitel plays a DEA agent who comes to London in order to help the Met crack a drug ring which uses young Londoners to eliminate the opposistion. What follows is a ruthless game of cat and mouse between the agent and the alwyas excellent Mortensen as a suave but deadly drug dealer. The film works because director Danny Cannon doesnt use the picture postcard view of London that some films use ,Cannons world is dark nightclubs ,dingy dark Sohos streets and decrpid council houses . The film also shows the conflict between old time London Gangsters and the new blood who are more than happy to kill before asking any questions,the films almost pre empts those ghastly gangster films that followed Lock Stock, but its much better than those as its not full of crap mockney actors. A film then with plenty going on its just a shame its young director blew all his promise making the terrible Sly Stallone version of Judge Dredd.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/23/23

Full Review

Read all reviews

Post a rating

Danny Cannon

Director

Harvey Keitel

John Harris

Iain Glen

Edward Foster

John Wood

Richard Donnelly

Terence Rigby

Sidney Callow

Keith Allen

Jack Doyle

Show Less Cast & Crew

Show More Cast & Crew

58%

64%

Kalifornia

71%

83%

Shallow Grave

57%

38%

Dream Lover

63%

39%

The Two Jakes

77%

84%

The Game

TRAILER

for The Game

Discover more movies and TV shows.

View More

View more photos

Dennis Schwartz

Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews

It looks too much like an American gangster film for the Brits to own it.

Rated: C+

Jun 12, 2015

Full Review

Emanuel Levy

EmanuelLevy.Com

Rated: 2/5

Jul 4, 2005

Full Review

Pablo Villaça

Cinema em Cena

Longo e sem foco, o filme procura conferir maior dimenso aos protagonistas atravs de subtramas dispensveis envolvendo suas parceiras.

Rated: 2/5

Feb 23, 2004

Full Review

Rebecca Murray

About.com

Rated: 4/5

Aug 20, 2003

Full Review

Tony Toscano

Talking Pictures (U.S.)

Rated: 2/5

Jan 19, 2003

Full Review

Dragan Antulov

rec.arts.movies.reviews

Rated: 6/10

Jan 1, 2000

Full Review

Read all reviews

Synopsis

New York City drug enforcement officer John Harris (Harvey Keitel) travels to London to help ineffective local policemen battle a powerful drug cartel. Harris needs to put behind bars American ex-pat Carl Frazer (Viggo Mortensen), who recruits rebellious young teens as foot soldiers in his enterprise. With help from British officer Edward Foster (Iain Glen), Harris must navigate London's seedy, drug-fueled underworld in order to take down Frazer's criminal operation.

Director: Danny Cannon
Producer: Philippe Maigret
Screenwriter: Danny Cannon, David Hilton
Production Co: Working Title Films, Live Entertainment, StudioCanal, PolyGram Filmed Entertainment
Rating: R
Genre: Mystery & Thriller
Original Language: English
Release Date (Streaming): Oct 1, 2012
Runtime: 1h 44m
Sound Mix: Stereo