Trying too hard to top his other films, Scorsese was shunned by the Academy yet again

Rating: 7/10 (26 February 2006)

Martin Scorsese is of course the greatest filmmaker of our time and he proved that the gangster film was not merely an excuse to portray guys in fancy suits and shootouts. All of his previous films, except The Age of Innocence and Kundun are set in modern times and while the setting of this film allowed Scorsese to give the film a more extravagant look, I thought it was an immense disappointment. The biggest problem is the rather muddled character development. I didn't really feel that the characters were believable which is strange because the film is supposedly based on reality. The Daniel Day-Lewis character was by far the most developed and he should have won an Oscar for it.
The two other leads, Leonardo DiCaprio and Cameron Diaz are totally unbelievable, both as the characters they are playing and also that they should be attracted to each other. And in risking to get a thousand hate mails, I think that Diaz is way out of DiCaprio's league, not acting wise but in the maturity of their appearances. There has always been a childish demeanor about DiCaprio which is probably why he only portrayed Howard Hughes in the early part of his life in Scorsese's most recent epic The Aviator.
I just wondered why it took me so long to comment on this film because I am usually prone to share my opinions on all of Scorsese's work (look at my other commentaries) and I think the reason is this: Though I think that this is the worst Scorsese film I have seen it is unlike anything else that has ever been filmed before. Filmmakers have usually been concentrating on the west when films are set before the 20th century and to see a New York setting before the Godfather trilogy took place is an innovative idea but the story lacks clarity and that is very risky in a 3 hour film. The best reason to see this is the performances and Liam Neeson gives the film a bravura opening and Jim Broadbent is also credible as an American gang lord. Other than that it is mostly a chance to see Scorsese make a visual spectacle that he would continue in The Aviator. To put this to rest; no, I didn't think Chicago was better deserving of the Best Picture Oscar but Scorsese wasn't snubbed by the Academy for no reason.