Once Upon a Time in America: Film # 131 of Film 365

Friday 27th January 2012

Director: Sergio Leone
Year: 1984
Stars: Robert De Niro, James Woods, Elizabeth McGovern, Larry Rapp, Joe Pesci

I was bought Once Upon a Time in America for Christmas on Blu ray. I had asked for it, so it wasn't a bad choice of present. However, I hadn't seen the movie before. I didn't really know much about it until I read an article about the blu ray release in a film magazine a few months ago. The article was convincing enough to make me want to watch the movie, so when I saw that it was pretty cheap on Amazon I added it to my wish list.

After a long day travelling to and from Portsmouth for work (it shouldn't, but it takes 2 1/2 hours to get there and back from Bristol) I figured an evening watching a movie wasn't a bad way to spend my time. A word of warning here - it really does take a whole evening to watch this. It's nearly four hours long. Thankfully I knew this going into the experience, so I wasn't too distressed about it. However, concentrating after 3 and a half hours is tough, however ready you are for the experience.

For the most part, I really enjoyed Once Upon a Time in America. I usually love gangster movies anyway, and the best ones (think The Godfather, Goodfellas...) are often lengthy movies. Leone does a good job of creating a convincing gangster movie, and even manages to evoke different eras by using different film styles. Here, it's always easy to tell if you're in the 1930s or the 1980s. The main story, whilst long, makes sense and is pretty satisfying. My one problem with Once Upon a Time in America is that the first half an hour is never explained satisfactorily- at least, not in my opinion. OK, so you can claim "it's just the mob" (and therefore makes sense), you can read part of the movie as a "dream sequence" (a frustrating cop-out in my opinion, if that was the director's intention) - but none of those readings satisfy me. It's a pity, because the omission of what could have been a 30 second explanation turns a great movie into a frustrating one.

Leone has not created (as one imdb reviewer puts it) a "cultural endurance test" (although the phrase amuses me) - but if you are going to watch this, be wary of the very long running time and some frustrating lack of plot explanations. If you love gangster movies, I think you probably have to give this a watch, and for the most part you will enjoy it. But it's not perfect.

Rating: 4 out of 5

American Gangster: Film #79 of Film 365

Saturday 24th September 2011

Director: Ridley Scott
Year: 2007
Stars: Denzel Washington, Russell Crowe, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Josh Brolin

This is the first movie I watched after returning from Canada. It was on TV on Saturday night, and sounded like an intriguing gangster movie, so I thought I'd give it a try.

In American Gangster Denzel Washington plays Frank Lucas, a drug smuggler in 1970s Manhattan. Russell Crowe is Richie Roberts, the honest cop who is trying to catch him. There's nothing really wrong with the (true) story of American Gangster - all the expected elements are there, even if they're not that surprising.

What I had a problem with is the casting. Denzel Washington has played the good guy so many times now that it's almost impossible to see him as the bad guy. And, well, he's just not that good at making it convincing. Now, if Russell Crowe or Chiwetel Ejiofor had been playing Frank, I would have been much happier. I know Crowe can play mean characters well, and Ejiofor was entirely convincing as Frank's brother. As it was, because I felt Washington had essentially been miscast I found American Gangster quite problematic, as Frank is a big part of the movie.

Rating: 2.5 out of 5

Saturday 14th August 2010

In Bruges

Director: Martin McDonagh
Year: 2008

Stars: Colin Farrell, Brendan Gleeson, Ralph Fiennes

This was not what I was expecting at all. We were at a friend's house and were looking for something relatively short to watch as it was 10.30 at night. Suggestions ranged from Back to the Future to Harry Potter (too long) to NOT Lost Boys, but In Bruges won out because a) it was short, b) Dan and I hadn't seen it and c) our friends, who had seen it, recommended it.

To say too much about the story would ruin it, as a lot of the enjoyment is in the fact that you assume the film is one thing (a thriller come gangster movie), when it's really something rather different to this (although if you like gangster movies I suspect you'd enjoy this too). Suffice it to say it's a fun film to watch with some great ideas and great acting.

Now, the first surprise was that I stayed awake for the whole film. This may have had something to do with the running time (86 mins), but I suspect it was more to do with the fact that it was a decent, nicely condensed story - none of this rambling on for an extra half an hour to make the film look stylish. How refreshing!

Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Wednesday 9th September

Mesrine: Public Enemy No. 1

Director: Jean-Francois Richet
Year: 2008
Stars: Vincet Cassel, Ludivine Sagnier, Mathieu Amalric


Having seen the first of this two-parter (Mesrine: Killer Instinct) at the cinema a couple of weeks ago, I was really keen to see the second half. The first half was excellent, so I had high expectations for this one too.

And it is a good film. It picks up basically where the first film left off, looking at the second half of Mesrine's life. But that's sort of where the problem is. The middle part of Mesrine's life is much of the same thing happening over and over again, so the first half of this film feels like it's repeating what we've seen before. This would be fine if either a) it had been a while since you'd seen the first film or b) you hadn't seen the first film. Unfortunately, neither of these applied.

Thankfully, just as I was starting to drift off and feel like I'd seen this all before, the film picked up it's pace and things started to get interesting - and different- again. The final 15/20 minutes were especially engaging, and if you had seen the first film, all the more interesting for it. Still a good, much better than average, gangster movie, but this time around, with a couple of flaws.

Rating: 4 out of 5

Wednesday 19th August

Mesrine: Killer Instinct

Director: Jean-Francois Richet
Year: 2008
Stars: Vincent Cassel, Cecile de France, Gerard Depardieu

Another gangster movie, but this time a French one. I didn't know anything about it until reading a few film reviews, but the glowing reports convinced me it might be a film well worth seeing.

Mesrine is apparently well-known in France - the French Clyde or Diliinger of his day (although his day was a little later, primarily in the 1960s). The fact that I'd never heard of him, and I'm guessing a number of other members of the audience wouldn't have done, takes nothing away from how good this film is.

The film doesn't pretend Mesrine is something he's not, which is an excellent starting point. They're not afraid to show him as a dislikeable character, and they do a very good job of it. I was trying to think of something negative to say about the film, but I just can't. It's everything I wanted Public Enemies to be and more.

Rating: 5 out of 5

Wednesday 22nd July

Public Enemies

Director: Michael Mann
Year: 2009
Stars: Johnny Depp, Christian Bale, Marion Cotillard

I love gangster movies, and had quite high hopes for this - when I first heard about it months ago, anyway. However, after reading the reviews I was less sure. But I still thought it was worth giving it a chance - the trailer made me think that what I feared was the case, but there was still a glimmer of hope.

The film is all about Johnny Dillinger, one of the real-life American '30s gangsters that the public chose to love. You may well know a bit about his life and history, but if not I won't ruin the plot for you here!

The reviews weren't really wrong. The film isn't a bad one - it just lacks some sort of substance. After a fairly lengthy discussion, Dan and I eventually agreed that it was to do with the characterisation - there simply isn't enough time spent getting to know the characters. Johnny Depp and Christian Bale (two actors I truly admire - primarily for their acting ability, although Depp's looks help too) both do the best with the material they're given, but there's just not a lot of material.

Perhaps there wasn't a lot to say about the characters lives other than that they were gangsters, but this makes for a very stylish film without much thought needed. Not a bad gangster movie exactly, but when you have films like Bonnie and Clyde and Scarface (either version) around, it's not going to win many accolades.

Rating: 3 out of 5