(rated R, 160 mins.)
Set in Manhattan during the 1800s comes the long anticipated release of this highly controversial Martin Scorsese directed film. “Titanic” star Leonardo DiCaprio resurfaces as Amsterdam, a young man on a dangerous crusade to avenge his father’s murder. In order to do so, he must take down New York’s most ruthless Leader, Bill The Butcher (Daniel Day-Lewis). Amsterdam, wise beyond his years (from a childhood studying under his father and living life on the streets) knows that to infiltrate Bill’s inner circle will gain control of the ongoing gang wars between the Irish and Italian immigrants in lower Manhattan’s “Five Points” area. DiCaprio acts his heart and soul out in this role that should resurrect him as a box office draw. Priest Vallon (Liam Neeson) leads the gang called “The Dead Rabbits’ as DiCaprio’s soon to be dead daddy, with more spunk then we would expect. The always fantastic Jim Broadbent stars as Tweed, the Tammany Hall Boss, in cahoots with Lewis. Cameron Diaz does a sassy job portraying a pickpocket-hooker recruited by DiCaprio for his own gang as well as for romance. And Lewis, as always, carries his Oscar quality weight showing the definition of anger on screen. The film’s climax depicts America’s worst riots in history – the “Draft Riots”. Yet despite its three hours plus excitement, the story should be far more developed beyond its seemingly black portrait of a world of bigotry and limited aristocratic views of the early Victorian era.
Set in Manhattan during the 1800s comes the long anticipated release of this highly controversial Martin Scorsese directed film. “Titanic” star Leonardo DiCaprio resurfaces as Amsterdam, a young man on a dangerous crusade to avenge his father’s murder. In order to do so, he must take down New York’s most ruthless Leader, Bill The Butcher (Daniel Day-Lewis). Amsterdam, wise beyond his years (from a childhood studying under his father and living life on the streets) knows that to infiltrate Bill’s inner circle will gain control of the ongoing gang wars between the Irish and Italian immigrants in lower Manhattan’s “Five Points” area. DiCaprio acts his heart and soul out in this role that should resurrect him as a box office draw. Priest Vallon (Liam Neeson) leads the gang called “The Dead Rabbits’ as DiCaprio’s soon to be dead daddy, with more spunk then we would expect. The always fantastic Jim Broadbent stars as Tweed, the Tammany Hall Boss, in cahoots with Lewis. Cameron Diaz does a sassy job portraying a pickpocket-hooker recruited by DiCaprio for his own gang as well as for romance. And Lewis, as always, carries his Oscar quality weight showing the definition of anger on screen. The film’s climax depicts America’s worst riots in history – the “Draft Riots”. Yet despite its three hours plus excitement, the story should be far more developed beyond its seemingly black portrait of a world of bigotry and limited aristocratic views of the early Victorian era.