Review of Gangs of New York (2002) by Elliott F — 22 Jul 2012

Ah this is puzzling. Martin Scorsese is the greatest living American director, so a grand American epic should be right up his alley, no? Well, not entirely. Gangs of New York has some great moments (the last hour or so is top-drawer Scorsese), but the rest of it is so heavy it can occasionally veer into textbook territory.

Leonardo DiCaprio plays Amsterdam Vallon, a man riding into New York's Five Points sixteen years after watching his father, "Priest" Vallon (Liam Neeson in a glorified cameo) get murdered in a street brawl by William "Bill the Butcher" Cutting (Daniel Day-Lewis).

Vallon eventually finds his way under Cutting's wing, but when Vallon wants vengeance, the two face off in a massive, bloody war. With a cast that also has Cameron Diaz, Jim Broadbent, John C. Reilly, Brendan Gleeson, Gary Lewis, Henry Thomas, Eddie Marsan, and Cara Seymour, all of the performances are superb.

Although DiCaprio has been much better in other places, he is still a very competent actor and reaffirms that here. Day-Lewis's Bill the Butcher will go down as yet another of the actor's iconic characters, and he richly deserved his Oscar nomination.

Day-Lewis's problem is, like, DiCaprio he has been much better before and after this (in fact, his superior performance in 2007's There Will Be Blood as Daniel Plainview feels like a revamped version of Bill Cutting).

The biggest surprise comes from Cameron Diaz, who is a terrific comic actress with the right material, but her nuanced performance as Jenny Everdeane, a woman of the streets who Vallon gets romantically involved with, is something of a revelation.

The music is outstanding, and the rest of the film is good, not great, Scorsese. It's a fine film, just a tiny bit less from what we typically expect in a Martin Scorsese film.