REVIEW: GANGS OF NEW YORK

My Rating:

Martin Scorsese has been nominated for Best Director at the Oscars six times. I've heard plenty of praise for every one of his films whenever the new one comes out (yearly it seems), most recently with Shutter Island, his fourth film he's worked on that stars Leonardo DiCaprio. His first co-op work with DiCaprio came out in 2002 with one of his Academy Award nominated films, Gangs of New York.

Gangs of New York follows Amsterdam Vallon (DiCaprio), the perpetually cute son of an Irish immigrant, 'Priest' Vallon (Neeson), who was murdered by Bill Cutting (Day-Lewis). Set in New York City during civil war era America, Irish immigrants are taking over jobs across the country for cheaper wages. The city is completely wild west, with it's citizens lacking any respect for the law. The 'metropolitan' police are feuding with the 'municipal' police, leaving any order only existing by pure coincidence. Meanwhile 'Native' born Bill Cutting and other nationalist Americans are losing their jobs and patience to the Irish 'invaders' who are coming by the boatload to the docks of New York. The Native and Irish gangs literally kill each other for jobs in a refreshing look on racism in the northern states. Now, just for fun, add Jenny Everdeane (Diaz) into the mix as eye candy, if the already convincing costumes and dialects weren't enough.

The film follows a classic, not to say predictable, story of revenge, betrayal, romance, and redemption. If Daniel Day-Lewis has played a character better, I have yet to see it (No, I haven't seen There Will Be Blood). He steals the show, while DiCaprio plays another gripping, young character who seems to finally be stepping out of his pretty boy comfort zone into an actual acting career. Diaz' attempt at an Irish accent was in no way convincing, unlike Natalie Portman's British accent in V for Vendetta. In Natalie's case, if someone had sold me she was actually British, I would have had to double check their facts (she was actually born in Israel, but grew up in the United States. Fun fact). If someone had told me Diaz was actually Irish, I'd know off the bat that they're a damn liar.

Although Diaz and her totally pointless character holds the otherwise all-star cast back, the authenticity of the costumes, the blow-away cinematography, the believable setting, and understandable story hold quite a bit of stock in my book. Some of the gruesome, intense violence makes me think Zack Snyder must have worked on the storyboards for 300 after watching this. The sets couldn't look more like they were built on a soundstage, which ruined what could have been some of the most epic shots in the picture. Gangs of New York is definitely a film worth being watched, as long as you have the nearly three hours (and accompanying patience) to sit through the most eye-opening look at racism that isn't black & white, even during the American Civil War.

Released: December 2002

Length: 2 hr 47 min

Directed by: Martin Scorsese

Written by: Jay Cocks, Steven Zaillian, Kenneth Lonergan

Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Daniel Day-Lewis, Cameron Diaz, Liam Neeson