Sad but True

Rating: 9/10 (8 January 2003)

It is kind of sad, but 90% of the people who go see this movie will never realize that 95% of the movie either really happened, is based on real events; the people were one time real people, the costumes were very close to real (maybe a tad exaggerated, but not by much), and that New York City, of 2003, is probably a much more wholesome place than it was 140 years ago. Read the book `Gangs of New York,' published in the 1920s, in which the movie is roughly based. The movie will look less fantastical, and maybe people will appreciate the movie for all its `realism.' (Although you can bet Hollywood creeps in from time to time.).