Gangs of New York

About a hundred men battle it out on the streets of NY with knives, swords and cudgels in 1846. There are some killings, robberies, fires, etc. About a hundred men prepare to do battle again on the streets of NY with knives, swords and cudgels in 1863. Theres more to the plot but not too much. Some greed, graft, racial issues and corrupt politics are thrown in to flavor the soup and theres a girl, of course.

Lawlessness in the Wild West was a picnic compared to this hyped up extravaganza of an OK Corral blood fest. I thought there might be some substantiating history, but Abraham Lincoln, the Emancipation Proclamation, slavery, the Civil War Tammany Hall and even Horace Greeley all seemed inconsequential compared to Bill the Butcher Cutting. Funny, I dont remember Bill in my history book.

However, this was one of those rare times when I was rooting for the bad guy. The Bill character displayed a code of ethics (his own of course) and he had a noble presence and a kind of simple, consistent nasty process for control, which he identified in the film as fear. Daniel Day-Lewis played this part to perfection. His was the one character created in this fantasy that I found the most fascinating to watch, and for my money, he stole the show.

DiCaprio on the other hand reminded me of the 50-year-old Red Skelton skit titled The Mean Little Kid. I had to watch 2 hours of him either frowning or ingratiating himself to his enemy with a phony smile. His character, with the unusual name Amsterdam Vallon, had no depth, complexity or power. There was only his obsession for revenge. It wasnt enough for me and I dont think his characters demeanor worked very well in the story line either. I found his character neither believable nor deserving respect in the plot. By comparison, I thought DiCaprios acting work in Catch Me if You Can (2002) was quite good. I found it interesting that Amsterdams father, Priest Vallon played by Liam Neesom brought all the stage presence and personal power to his role that DiCaprio lacked.

In contrast to DiCaprio, the supporting cast was very good: Cameron Diaz as Jenny, the love interest, Jim Broadbent as Boss Tweed was great, John C. Reilly as Happy Jack, the cop on the beat and Brendan Gleeson as Monk, the mercenary.

Martin Scorsese directed the film and it follows his formula of the loner protagonist in New York City. Scorsese opted out of a Catholic seminary in favor of a film career. His religious background pops up in this film as the crusade like Catholic ceremonies of the Irish gang.

I have to say more about Day-Lewis, who is the son of Englands poet Laureate and the son-in-law of the playwright, Arthur Miller. His film career began in 1971 but his real entrance began with The Bounty (1984), My Beautiful Launderette (1985) and Room with a View (1986). He was taking time off in Italy working as a cobbler, when Scorsese and DiCaprio lured him back for this leading role.

I hate revealing any part of the plot, but the final scenes involving naval ships in NY harbor were too bizarre for me to swallow, even if any smattering of it was true.

Reviewed July 16, 2003