2 Stars (out of five)

Rating: Null/10 (26 December 2002)

I have just come back from "Gangs of New York" and, low and behold, after turning on the TV and surf the net, Scorcese's "Casino" is on. Interesting to compare the two, as they are essentially the same kind of film
"Gangs," as it turns out, is a minor Scorcese film that wants to be a great one. It lacks drive and dimension and, worst of all, substance. Words, always an important part of a Scorcese film, are usually delivered with a force and reckoning similar to the staccato of machineguns but in "Gangs" are dull and plodding. Only Day Lewis can manage to lift his character above the material (but then again bad guys always play better on film), whereas, DiCaprio and Diaz are woefully miscast.
This film contains all of the standard elements that Scorcese is known for, a worthy soundtrack, narration (but only by one character this time), editing by Shoonmaker, cinematography by Ballhouse, a decent set of actors, a script by Zaillian, but something went wrong somewhere. A quick scan of the credits and one could see why -- too many writers and way too many producers. And it probably didn't help that the film was shot in Italy (no disrespect intended to the fine Italian crew). But the film felt off-center from right after the opening fight which killed "Priest" and never regained form. Liam Neeson had a terrific presence -- its too bad he got killed after the first 15 minutes. Perhaps a way should have been found to keep him around until the first half and then shortened everything else. Perhaps then the movie would have had better pace.
The movie also feels like many, many scenes and/or characters wound up on the cutting room floor or, even worse, tried to be saved in the editing room. Let's face it; this film got the better of a great director.