Excellent, violent, gorgeous historical drama

Rating: 10/10 (18 January 2003)

This is a really, really good movie...and perhaps even a great one. For the life of me I can't understand why so many people here are trashing it, but I can certainly see why over a thousand voters have rated it a 10 out of 10. As has been repeatedly noted, Daniel Day-Lewis steals the film in one of the most bravura performances of the decade. Diaz is excellent and shows a capability for real dramatic acting that is a treat. DiCaprio is at least good, perhaps even very good. The best of a solid supporting cast is Jim Broadbent as Boss Tweed. In over two and a half hours the pace never drops, and you are actually not conscious of the length. There's quite a bit of blood, gore and violence which might be a problem for the squeamish, and the historical accuracy leaves a bit to be desired (the gang costumes are actually somewhat reminiscent of the great 70's film The Warriors), but all in all, this is wonderful, classic Scorcese, and definitely worth seeing.