Clichéd

Rating: 6/10 (18 November 2007)

This film is largely cobbled together from the best bits of better gangster films of years gone by (Scarface, The Godfather, French Connection, Usual Suspects, a lot of Scorseses work) but it never rises beyond those flicks.
There are one or two very good scenes and, for the most part the acting is solid. It is an incredibly clichéd movie though, right through to the end credits where we have a subtitled epilogue of what happened to the characters after the film ended.
There are some very good scenes, but there are also some very bad scenes which border on being unintentionally funny.
This is a film thats only really worth viewing on the big screen; watching it on your home system would only be detrimental to its value.
This is a very studio produced film; its over-budgeted, the actors are over-paid. at times I was left wondering where the money went. If you're looking for "Gladiator" then don't bother; this has more in common with "Hannibal".
It's not a patch on Scotts Blade Runner or Alien and its by far one of the least interesting things that Washington or Crowe have done.