Not Scorsese's Best

Rating: 7/10 (6 August 2003)

The film has a more conventional storyline than we're used to seeing from Mr. Scorsese. Still, a fair effort from Scorsese is better than most. Yes, there are historical inaccuracies, but you could say the same about pretty much every historical drama, including Schindler's List and Lawrence of Arabia. The main strength of the picture is the dominating, Oscar-caliber performance by Daniel Day-Lewis. It's hard to grade a film like this, because Scorsese is basically competing against himself. Is it as good as Mean Streets, Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, After Hours, GoodFellas, Age of Innocence? No. But it's certainly a good film, and it's worth watching.