so much to admire in this lavish, epic-scale film

Rating: Null/10 (11 June 2006)

From renowned director Martin Scorsese comes this compelling, tour de force tale of freedom, retribution, and survival. During the late 1800s lower Manhattan is overrun by corruption, thievery, organized crime, and waves of immigrants creating friction among local inhabitants. DiCaprio is a wandering young Irishman who returns to town after years of absence to seek revenge against the charismatic and fierce demagogue Bill the Butcher (Day-Lewis), a rival gangster and self-appointed leader of the Five Points Section. As the escalating gang warfare only grows more brutal, he finds himself torn between loyalty to his fighting countrymen and carrying out his own personal vendetta. Superbly crafted, vividly realized, and often graphically violent this engrossing period piece may not be for all tastes, but the production is so elaborate, the performances so broad, and the direction so sure-handed that you can't help but to be entertained. Well-performed, and highlighted by Day-Lewis' mesmerizing, larger-than-life embodiment of the cunning, conflicted Bill. ***½