Mr. Untouchable

Loved it. I watch over and over! Sad what happened, to Shamecca. She was pretty. I have his biography its a good read. His wife Thelma was pretty too. I heard Frank James passed away. Guy Fisher bought the Apollo Theater once. Guy and Shamecca affair and disloyalty of his Council members caused him to snitch,and bring the organization down. He was friends with Joey Gallo,and the italians. Has two daughters, I wonder what happened to his sister?.Harlem 1970s was rough! Addicts everywhere, robberies,. He met Shamecca at when she was 19,she was going to school for court reporter! A very complex man.

Sitting at the Cinema Village the other night was a mind-blowing experience.There was more to Leroy "Nicky" Barnes: the man, then Cuba Gooding Jr: the actor could have ever portrayed in "American Gangster". Marc Levin has captured the real deal with "Mr. Untouchable", he paints a picture of the drug-infested landscape of the forgotten Harlem in the 1970's.We are reminded of how Harlem was before the War on Drugs was initiated in the Nixon administration.This was a true story of cops and robbers, dealers and kingpins, junkies and victims.Where bodies were dumped in the 1970's-hipsters now guzzle down Pumpkin Spice Lattes at the newest Harlem Starbucks.There will never be another Nicky Barnes.

The most powerful black drug kingpin in New York City history, Nicky Barnes came from humble beginnings to make himself and his comrades rich beyond their wildest dreams, ultimately reaching national infamy in 1977 when the New York Times put him on the front cover of their magazine.

In organized crime, there is a theory called ethnic succession that explains how the Italians took over criminal enterprise from the Irish. For decades there was speculation that the black community would take over from the Italians. For the most part, this has failed to materialize, with black gangs being largely unprofessional and unorganized. Nicky Barnes and his organization is the big exception.

Everything I know about Barnes I learned from this documentary, which does a great job of explaining his place in history and how he was targeted by law enforcement. Some interesting points are made. Certainly he deserved to be targeted. But was it a real conspiracy?

The last time I was this disgusted watching a documentary about a drug dealer was "Cocaine Cowboys 2." "Cocaine Cowboys 2" was about an Oakland, CA drug dealer named Charles Anthony Crosby who touts his prowess as a drug dealer while also singing a hymn to Griselda Blanco. "Mr. Untouchable" is slightly better because it has statements and interviews from a wider array of characters, but it is still largely nothing more than an ode to a drug dealer.

The subject of this documentary was Nicky Barnes, a big time drug dealer in Harlem in the 70's. It is informative, but it was far more of a requiem. I don't care to hear about the "accomplishments" of a drug dealer. There are very few people worse than drug dealers. Only warmongers and CEOs ruin more lives, and in the end Nicky Barnes was a simple snitch. I watched this documentary because it was produced by Alex Gibney who I'm a huge fan of. If Alex Gibney's name wasn't attached to this film then I wouldn't have wasted a nanosecond on it.

Free on Vudu, Pluto TV, and Tubi.

Mr. Untouchable tells the story of the Harlem drug kingpin Nicky Barnes who had built up a multi million dollar empire in New York City into the 1970s and because of his nickname which is used in the title, drew the attention of then President Jimmy Carter who was so incensed that he made it a priority of the attorney general to take down the notorious criminal.

Director Marc Levin relies heavily on Mr. Barnes during extensive interviews for most of the documentary, and what should be a riveting tale somehow becomes tedious as the former convict is just not all that interesting. He complains about former associates turning against him and the deal he made to become an informant with d.a. Rudy Guliani to shorten his prison sentence. I was expecting a charismatic, charming, insightful man due to his wide ranging experiences, but instead a crashing bore who belongs in jail.