Scorsese on top form

Rating: 10/10 (25 March 2004)

A mindblowing epic from a truly great director, this film has attracted a great deal of opprobrium from people who seem to have missed the point. I thus find myself forced to write a defensive review instead of simply raving about it.
#1: "The plot is so hackneyed". No it's not. Of course there are lots of revenge plots around; show me *any* movie and I'll show you a basic plot that's been used a thousand times before, but the good ones put new twists on them, and I felt that this was an original handling of the revenge plot (Amsterdam's growing closeness to Bill, the recognition that he is becoming like him, and even a genuine sympathy for the old monster aided this impression). It's a simple plot, certainly: but that's because the film is less about the story than about the evocation of an era, which was brilliantly realised. The story is there for the picture to hang on, which means that it needs to be strong but not too complex. It succeeds.
#2: "The accents are terrible": Have you any idea how much work went into getting these accents right? Of course Amsterdam and Jenny don't sound Irish: they've grown up in New York and naturally have mixed up accents. Of course Bill doesn't sound like a modern New Yorker: it's a well-researched old-fashioned Anglo-Dutch NY accent, predating other (particularly Italian) influences.
#3: Criticisms of the acting I simply don't understand. I used to dislike diCaprio, but he has grown stronger, surer and better in every film I've seen. There is only one point in this film where I felt his acting faltered for a few seconds - I'm not telling you where - and I was on the lookout for slips. Cameron Diaz rises beautifully to what is by far the greatest dramatic challenge of her career, while Daniel Day-Lewis and Jim Broadbent prove yet again that they can do no wrong.
Right, that's that off my chest. If you enjoy well-written, gorgeously shot gangland epics which bring together some of the finest acting and directing talents around, this is for you. If you can't cope with moral complexity or are too fidgety to sit still for three hours, blame yourself, not Scorsese.