Review of Once Upon a Time in America (1984) by Bradley W — 03 Apr 2012

Once Upon A Time in America is a epic poem of love, friendship, crime, greed, betrayal, loss, and the rise of mobsters in American society that showed me that Sergio Leone's is one of cinema's greatest masterminds.

A film of this magnitude has rights to be called one of the greatest masterpieces of all time, what I saw here was not a film, it was art. Its a storytelling at its finest, acting at its top notch, and a legendary film that will likely be remembered by many as Leone's best work.

I consider this and The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly to be his best work, both were just masterpieces of cinema and I adore them. When I saw the film it was the 229 minute version and not the stupid U.

S. edited version that made it about only 2 hours, which from the critics perspective was a horrible mess of a film. But when watching this film a memory of every single film I have ever seen went through me and I did not know why, maybe it was the length or the magic spark inside the film, but this represents cinema at the best it should be treasured until the end of time as one of the greatest films of all time.

The plot follows a group of friends who grow up to be gangsters, and the themes of trust and friendship started showing their colors, but where the film is at its best is the interactions of its characters.

This the history of crime incredible well and does it all through the eyes of David "Noodles" Aaronson who may not be a likable protagonist, but he is not meant to be one. As for the cast, Robert DeNiro will always be remembered as one of cinema's greatest actors and this film is one of the many that brought him that title, he is tenseful and plays this role with such seriousnes that I got captured in his character.

As for the other cast memebers such as James Woods, Elizabeth McGovorn, or Tuesday Weld, they were all truly were perfect and all deserved awards for their performances. Once Upon a Time in America took me back to a time in cinema where people started looking at movies in a whole new perspective, and this violent and vulgar crime film is one of the finest examples of perfect cinema and will not only go down as one of the best films of all time, but for me it will be rememebered as one of the best crime films of all time, next to other such like The Godfather trilogy, Goodfellas, Casino, The Departed.

If the runtime scares you to sit through a movie this long, I completely recommend you give it a chance, you will not be dissapointed, and you will witness one of the most haunting and lasting films you have ever imagined.