Plot Details: This opinion reveals minor details about the movie's plot.

Gangs of New York rises above the level of goodness required for good in a movie, but doesn't quite reach greatness.

I don't know if it was really all that possible. The movie, I thought, didn't start off too well- the first forty minutes were interesting, but that was about it. There was nothing spectacular about them, and I was quite worried that I would not end up having enjoyed this movie. However, the film picked up all of a sudden when it just started kicking @$$, and I liked it from then on.

Martin Scorese's 2002 film is for sure, a strange one. I was expecting much more of an epic-Lawrence-of-Arabia type of perspective, but instead you get Scorese's oddball side- while the film is supposedly historically accurate in its context (I wouldn't know), its very caricatured. The colors of certain scenes are abundant and exaggerated, as are the forms of certain objects in the film. Scorese, during many scenes, focuses much more on environment and atmosphere than on plot- there are fast and slow pans where you just come to completely understand what sort of world you are in. Songs are sung by random characters just to impose on you the mindset of everyone in the city- honestly, its pretty cool, but its still odd.

However, on the bright side, the oddness does not calculate it to be a Stereotypically Great Movie (SGM), as in a movie that uses the oddest of film technique to make itself into a widely hailed film. Scorese plays things at least somewhat normally, and I did think the movie was strange... but still, its not Stereotypically Great.

One of the better things about the film is its sense of humor, and how it uses drama in the midst of all of this. The humor is the skepticism with which Scorese views his 1862-ish world, and thus things turn out to be very funny. DiCaprio has a voice-over for portions of the film, and he talks about how when there's a fire in the town, two different fire crews show up, but since these crews are different 'gangs', they just break into a fight right when they see each other. Then, there's two very power-hungry men who haven't done anything powerful for a while, so they just accuse four men of every crime in the world and hang them. Its horrible, but its a riot. The fighting in general in this movie doesn't seem to be taken very seriously- there is a gang-battle very early in the film, and I almost laughed at it, just because... its odd.

The actors in the film also do a pretty cool job- Daniel Day-Lewis, whose role was most widely-hailed, defintely deserved to have his role widely hailed. The other movie I've seen him in is Last of the Mohicans, which is completely different, but he's VERY cool in this movie, one of those bad guy you really love, just because of the passion and ambition he has within him. At one point in the movie, he gets shot, and then he releases a few seconds later, the most evil, full-of-rage-and-pain scream I have ever heard. It was so cool, I almost wanted to get shot myself, just so I could scream with that sort of anger. And DeCaprio... I've never understood what problem some people have with him. I think he's a fine actor (not in the sexual sense), and he always does a pretty good job wherever I see him. The film also has John C. Reilly, one of my favorite actors (his Magnolia performance was awesome). Liam Neeson also has a role in the beginning of the movie.

Most of my two cents being spent on this review, I just have to put out one last message. Its a letter to Cameron Diaz.

Dear Cameron Diaz,

Please let us all see your boobs. You have way too much sex in way too many movies, and you certainly do well in these sex scenes, but you're being way too much of a tease. Every movie I see you in, that has sex, has the words "Nudity/Sexuality" on the cover. I go rent these movies to see you nude and having sex, but no, its always Penelope Cruz or Random Nude Actor #1. That's terrible, Cameron. What are you going to do, make us wait until you are 60? Cameron, I'm almost 17. My 'sexual peak' will end within two years. You have to do this one favor for me.

Yours truly, Tom Speaker








Rating: B+

Recommended: Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Good for a Rainy Day
Suitability For Children: Not suitable for Children of any age