Gangs of New York

Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Daniel Day-Lewis, Cameron Diaz, John C. Reilly, Liam Neeson, Brendan Gleeson
Directed by: Martin Scorsese
Rating: R
Genre: Drama, Crime, Historical
Box Office: $77,812,000
2002

Times Seen:
Tim: 2

Summary: An Irish-American, Amsterdam (Leonardo DiCaprio) returns to New York to avenge his father (Liam Neeson), who was killed sixteen years ago by William Cutler (Daniel Day-Lewis) in a gang war. Amsterdam befriends William to get close to him, and must juggle a growing friendship with his quest for revenge.

Review:

Tim: Martin Scorsese knows how to direct a motion picture. Every frame of this movie is so visual and so exciting that you won't want to take your eyes off the movie for a second.

Gangs of New York is an incredibly violent movie. One of the major themes is how violent New York was in the mid 19th century. This film is so violent that you'll come away from this movie wanting to get into a street brawl.

This is the first film I've ever seen with Daniel Day-Lewis. He gives one of the flat out best performances I've ever seen. His Bill the Butcher is an outstanding character. He is so vile and horrible, yet so likeable. This trait is key to the film, and Day-Lewis nails it.

Leonardo DiCaprio and Cameron Diaz are decent, but are over-shadowed by Day-Lewis. They are just goo enough to help make the film great. Liam Neeson is the perfect choice for a very small but important role.

This film tells a powerful story in a visual, gritty, and original way. Movies like this don't come along every day.

The downside to the movie is an often-cited Scorsese criticism. The movie is just so incredibly long. It drags at times. Some scenes are unnecessary and cause the movie to be longer than it needed to be.

Despite a few shortcomings, Gangs of New York is a terrific film and a contemporary classic. See it.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating- 8.5


If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: The Aviator, Goodfellas, Raging Bull, Kingdom of Heaven