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A little too self-indulged
by HeatherM (movies profile)
May 20, 2006
3
of
3 people found this review helpful
Gangs of New York gets too involved in its own self-glorification to really be great. It wants to think of itself as a sprawling, epic piece of art, but really, it's just entertainment with a beautiful musical score, lots of violence and a visual look to it that is one of the best put to screen.
What Martin Scorcese and his crew don't realize is that despite its scope and range, its huge sets and great costumes, craned cameras and top notch actors, Gangs of New York is still a simple revenge story. Amsterdam (Leonardo DiCaprio) wants revenge on William Cutting aka Bill the Butcher (Daniel Day-Lewis) for killing his father (Liam Neesen), so, after immigrating from Ireland, he joins Bill's inner circle.
Enter Cameron Diaz as a pickpocket who sleeps with both of them, Jim Broadbent as a crooked politician, John C. Reilly as a copper, Henry Thomas as an old friend of Amsterdam's and a very large and familiar supporting cast of character actors.
The sets and art direction are monumental, the cinematography is beautiful, the musical score is stirring, the costumes are realistic as can be, and Martin Scorcese's direction of his life's dream is excellent...Daniel Day-Lewis gives a vicious performance, Mr. DiCaprio shows that he can act, and yet...
Well, Gangs of New York doesn't seem to realize that it's a half an hour too long, isn't that emotionally moving, and seems to think too highly of itself. It's an arrogant movie, and that's where it falls short. |
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