WPCNR WHITE PLAINS VARIETY. “CinemaScoop” By Harry Genty Waksberg. January 8, 2003:If one were to attempt to compile all the greatest elements of classic gangster and revenge films, the outcome would be something like Martin Scorsese’s oft-called opus, Gangs of New York.
This film, starring the recently resurrected Leonardo DiCaprio, the similarly revived Daniel Day-Lewis, and the versatile Cameron Diaz, focuses on Amsterdam Vallon, an Irish-American.
At a young age, Vallon witnessed his father; “Priest” Vallon, leader of the Irish-American gang “The Dead Rabbits”, played brilliantly, if somewhat fleetingly, by Liam Neeson, being killed in a bloody gang war by William “Bill the Butcher” Cutting (Day-Lewis), leader of the less-recently immigrated American gang, “The Natives.” Fifteen years later, Vallon, now played by DiCaprio, returns to New York to seek revenge and discovers the stranglehold that the Butcher now has on the city.
This film is referred to as the culmination of Scorsese’s work, and if it is, he deserves to be proud. Though the storyline itself is almost paint-by-numbers in its predictability, the audience still feels worried during some of the more dramatic scenes, and receives a good number of jolts.
The movie hearkens back to The Godfather (which I’m sure Scorsese would have killed Coppola to direct) in a sort of “girls-don’t-get-it” rules and regulations of gang warfare approach. This is not meant to imply any sexism, but a typical question for this movie would be, “But he likes the Butcher! Why does he have to kill him?” for which the answer would be, “He has no choice. It is the Rule of Revenge,” or another question, “Why doesn’t he just shoot him in the back? He’d get it over with so much quicker,” for which the answer is, “There are rules that must be followed in acts of war.”
In fact, if one accepts this basic precept, a great number of interesting things are revealed about characters by analyzing when and why they deviate from the rules.
One of the few flaws of this film was that Scorsese felt compelled to include in it politically correct messages which, while meaningful, detracted from the intended storyline. Too much emphasis, for example, was put on the African-American member of the Dead Rabbits, a minor character. There were a few scenes of various people praying, the intent of Scorsese seeming to be to convey that all people are essentially alike and fighting is pointless, but, once again, the scenes seemed to derail the story itself.
Special shout-outs for this movie should be given to John C. Reilly, in his fourth modest role of 2002, including being in the films Chicago, The Good Girl, and The Hours. His performance as “Happy Jack,” wherein his one facial expression is used to convey a plethora of emotions was pulled off brilliantly. Also, though previously unmentioned in this review, among the many historical figures added to this film, Jim Broadbent’s portrayal of Boss Tweed was extremely well done, and he gave a good idea of exactly what was going on in his head.
See this movie as soon as you can. It will keep you jumping in your seat from beginning to end, and the very last image is a thought-provoking comment on New York City and our nation.
