Gangs of New York
This has been a banner year for Leonardo DiCaprio. Not only
has he made one good movie this year, but two! (See my review
of his other movie, Catch Me if You Can.) He was fortunate
to get to work with two legendary directors, Steven Spielberg
and Martin Scorsese. While I liked his performance in Catch
Me if You Can better, he is excellent in Scorsese’s Gangs
of New York.
A young Irish-American man named
Amsterdam Vallon (DiCaprio) comes back to New York City one
day in 1863 after being released from a "house of refuge."
He is an orphan, because sixteen years earlier, as a young
boy, Amsterdam watched a immense street battle in the Five
Points district between the Dead Rabbits gang, led by his
father, Priest Vallon (Liam Neeson), and the Nativists gang,
which was led by William "Bill the Butcher" Cutting
(Daniel Day-Lewis.) During the battle, Cutting killed his
father. Now that he is back in town, Amsterdam wants revenge
against Cutting and fortunately runs into Johnny Sirocco (Henry
Thomas), a street thief who works for Bill that he knew as
a kid. Johnny agrees not to tell Cutting Amsterdam’s
true identity and soon Amsterdam himself ends up working for
Cutting as well, eventually becoming his right-hand man. While
the Dead Rabbits have been outlawed by Cutting, who unofficially
runs the area along with crooked politician William "Boss"
Tweed (Jim Broadbent), he stills honors Amsterdam's father
as the last decent man he fought. Men who were once in the
Priest’s gang, such as Happy Jack (John C. Reilly) and
Charles McGloin (Gary Lewis), now work for Bill and share
his contempt for the multitude of immigrants who pull in daily
at the docks. Most are signed up directly into the Union Army
to be sent to the South, and soon native men will be drafted
into the army if they can't come up with the $300 deferment
fee. As he is plotting his revenge against the man who killed
his father, Amsterdam begins falling for Jenny Everdeane (Cameron
Diaz), a talented pickpocket who also has a sketchy past with
Cutting. As time goes on and with the help of former Dead
Rabbit Monk McGinn (Brendan Gleeson), Amsterdam finally makes
his move on retaliating against Cutting. From that point on,
the city heads towards violence on a range of fronts.
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I had asked my fellow Denver
critic Reggie McDaniel what he thought of the movie before
I got a chance to see it. Reggie thought Leo was miscast as
Amsterdam. He thought Leo wasn’t believable as a tough
guy. He also thought that most people should forgive the bad
Irish accents in the movie and just concentrate on the performances.
I have to disagree with him on all of this. First, I thought
Leo made a great tough guy. Sure, he was young and inexperienced-looking,
but I think that was what the character called for. He certainly
wasn’t a wussy-boy by any means. Second, I think having
a proper accent in the movie is very important to the credibility
of the performances. It’s not that Leo’s Irish accent
was bad, it’s just that it kept slipping in and out as
the movie went along. It’s almost distracting.
One thing that Reggie and I agree
with (along with, surprisingly, many other critics) is that
Lewis’s performance was extraordinary. He has already
garnered a Golden Globe nomination for this role, and he is
a shoo-in for an Oscar nomination. His character stands out
like no other supporting role has this year. He is both scary
and respectable at the same time, in a weird way (though I
think he starts to lose his mind near the end.) If you see
this movie for no other reason, see it for Lewis’s performance.
Before I wrap it up, I have another
one of my rapidly increasing “minor gripes.” The
very last scene of the movie was cool and confusing at the
same time. Let me set it up for you (don’t worry, this
is not a spoiler): we see the gravesites of the fallen rival
leaders, buried side-by-side. We then see what happens to
the burial plot and its surroundings over the next 140 years.
We see the New York City skyline evolve over time. The very
last shot is supposedly the burial plot (which has long been
washed away by time) and the skyline in 2002. We see the Twin
Towers in the background. I thought it was cool of Scorsese
to put them there and not pretend like they never existed
(like so many fellow movie and TV makers have done.) If he
truly wanted to show the New York City skyline over time though,
he should have had one shot with them in it, but then the
very last shot should have shown the skyline without them.
They did exist at one time, but they don’t anymore. That
should be acknowledged as well.
Gangs of New York is a great
movie, with only a few strikes against it. Like the recent
Lord of the Rings movie, it is very long, but there are no
boring parts. I think Leo has his second Oscar-worthy performance
here (stopped only by his magically disappearing accent.)
Go check out this movie which is sure to see a lot of Oscar
love in February when the nominations are announced!
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