I don't get it. Maybe I saw a different movie than the rest.

Rating: 4/10 (6 January 2003)

Many people are praising this movie beyond words.
Maybe I went into the wrong theater.
I went in expecting to see an epic on the creation of New York City, and the shape it took after hordes of immigrants made it the cosmopolitan place it is now.
What I got instead was 2 straight hours of diCaprio wooing Cameron Diaz, and some 40 minutes of actual politics and gang wars.
Don't get me wrong - I HATED this movie. Hated every second of it. Hated Martin Scorsese for having succumbed to "Cameron's Syndrome" (which is, not being able to stop showing diCaprio as a sex symbol instead of concentrating in actually telling a story). It is "Titanic" meets New York in the worst of ways. I hate diCaprio, because after "What's eating Gilbert Grape" he hasn't been able to make one decent movie, while turning every single film he has been in into a tribute to his personna.
I now can only wish some other director will actually try and tackle this subject with a shred more of dignity, all while telling a story that actually makes some sense. "Gangs of New York" is a terrible effort - a movie that should and could have been the best movie of the year. Instead, it is a tribute to diCaprio with a couple minutes dedicated to the actual story of the Gangs of New York. Pathetic.