Gangs of New York - B+

I thought Gangs of New York was a jumbled mess of a movie when I first saw it. Daniel Day-Lewis was great as Bill the Butcher, obviously, but his greatness created an imbalance with Leonardo Dicaprio that director Martin Scorsese and editor Thelma Schoonmaker couldn’t fix. It also seemed Scorsese was trying too hard and added too much to the film he had been developing for 25 years. But every time lawyer posts a comment, I felt like giving it another chance. Click below for the rest.
The movie is still a bit of a mess. The opening gang fight scene has distracting rock music on the soundtrack and Scorsese has trouble coordinating the action. I think I’ve finally found a Scorsese weakness: crowds. He’s a master of intimate dramas around a kitchen table, in a boxing ring, or in a taxi cab, but give him a ton of extras and you’ll lose the geography of the scene quickly (think the night-club scenes in New York, New York – or better yet, don’t).

Day-Lewis completely inhabits the character and the scene where he talks about his first encounter with Priest Vallon (Liam Neeson) is perhaps his best (above). And the mirror is a nice touch as DDL reflects.

“Whoopsie-Daisy” is right. It’s a rather unpleasant movie, but Scorsese was trying to portray an unpleasant time (mid-19th century). And give him credit for making you feel every stabbing and head-butt (and there are a lot). Being effective doesn’t make it bad, just unpleasant.

DiCaprio is still outmatched. He seems coy and intimidated by both Scorsese and Day-Lewis. Sure, he’s struggling with guilt and cowardice, but he’s much better in his 2 subsequent Scorsese collaborations. This is his best scene (above) when Brendan Gleeson returns his father’s blade. Howard Shore's musical score is great and epic, especially in this scene.

Lots of research went into the movie. On the right is an 1888 photograph “Bandit’s Roost”, taken by Jacob Riis.

Scorsese copies the photograph when DiCaprio hangs the dead rabbit in the center of the 5 points.

“Here’s the thing: I don’t give a tuppenny f@ck about your moral conundrum you meat-headed sh!t-stack. That’s more or less the thing. And I want you to go out there, you – nobody else, none of your little minions. I want you to go out there and punish the person who’s responsible for murdering this poor little rabbit. Is that understood?”
What DDL does with this speech is nothing short of amazing. (And “tuppenny” is slang for “two-penny”)

Despite the unwieldy plot and subplots (class struggles, pickpockets, Civil War, religion, draft riots), some nice Scorsese touches come through. Immediately before his death, John C. Reilly has a “Satan” puppet next to him. He is one of Bill’s puppets, after all.

Likewise, right before his death, Henry Thomas shares screen time with the “Satan” puppet (screen right).

The star of Titanic blows the brains out of the star of E.T. I think this is how box office bridesmaid Scorsese has always viewed people who place monetary value on “art”.

A fascinating mess, it’ll finally crack my top ten for 2002