Day-Lewis is brilliant; sloppy rewriting of history is disappointing

Rating: 7/10 (10 January 2003)

Daniel Day-Lewis has never been better. See it for his performance.
The historicity is badly mangled in several places, which is puzzling, since the actual history is entertaining enough. Also, the film is a tad too claustrophobic (limited to a few interior & exterior sets); this either successfully captures the tiny local world of the Five Points--or reflects the limited number of sets that the budget would permit be built.

The most conventional Scorsese movie I've seen (& that includes "Cape Fear" too).