Gangs of New York (R, 2002)

GANGS OF NEW YORK is the story of the origins of New York, in the Civil War era where it was not yet a city, but "a furnace where a city might be forged." When the leader of the Dead Rabbits gang is killed by the leader of "the natives" (who've been in the U.S. for generations) in a huge and brutal skirmish, his young son, Amsterdam (Leonardo DiCaprio), is taken to an orphanage/reformatory. He returns twenty years later, determined to finish his father's fight. By this time, the man who killed his father, Bill the Butcher (Daniel Day-Lewis) runs just about everything in the sprawling area called "Five Points." In Five Points, Amsterdam recognizes some of his father's supporters, including Happy Jack (John C. Reilly) and McGloin (Gary Lewis). The only one who recognizes him is Johnny (Henry Thomas). Amsterdam infiltrates Bill the Butcher's inner circle, and when he begins to treat Amsterdam like a son, the boy who lost his father cannot help but respond. Amsterdam also begins to care for a pickpocket/thief, and sometimes prostitute named Jenny (Cameron Diaz).

Martin Scorsese is a director of astonishing power and Gangs of New York is a movie of astonishing imagination, ambition, and scope. The first fifteen minutes are as dazzling as any images ever put on screen. The rest of the movie veers from brilliant to flawed, but it is unfailingly arresting, provocative, and powerful. The struggle between good and evil is represented at every level, from the internal struggles within Amsterdam to the massive battles between the immigrants and the natives. Scorsese also puts the combat in Five Points within the context of the riots in New York after the Union began conscripting soldiers. His reach is over-ambitious at times, but he has a sure hand with the narrative and fills each frame with splendid images.

After the terrible fighting is over, Scorsese shows us how the city was delivered, in both senses of the word. Superfluous voice-overs and flashbacks are very annoying, Thomas' character is poorly conceived, and Cameron Diaz, though game, is badly miscast. DiCaprio just manages to stay on top of his role, but Day-Lewis gives a career-topping performance of such ferocity that the character almost bursts out of the screen.

Studio: Miramax
Director: Martin Scorsese
Cast: Cameron Diaz, Daniel Day-Lewis, Leonardo DiCaprio
Genre: Drama
Run time: 167 minutes
Theatrical release: December 20, 2002
DVD release: July 1, 2003
MPAA Rating: R
MPAA explanation: intense strong violence, sexuality/nudity and language