Top Quality movie making!

Rating: 9/10 (17 February 2003)

This is a wonderfully lavish spectacle from maestro Martin Scorsese. The film, despite being a little overblown and overly melodramatic, is still a fantastic example of how to make a movie.
The film of course will be most remembered for the return of Daniel Day Lewis after 5 years out of the business and after watching it he will definitely be the lasting memory. Lewis is fantastic, he steals every scene and if he wins his Oscar its deserved. The rest of the cast are good but play second fiddle to be honest. Leonardo Di Caprio proves once again that he can act and isn't just eye candy for young females, and Cameron Diaz proves that for herself in regards of the male viewers, in fact she looks remarkably different donning a mane of curly red hair and without make up and proves that it isn't the slap (make-up) that makes her pretty, she is naturally gorgeous. Also good are Brendon Gleeson and Jim Broadbent, as ever.
Overall this is not Scorseses best, in fact truthfully it is one of his worst, but that siad this is still top draw stuff with fantastic production desgin, great music and stuning performances from namely mr Day Lewis in particular. As you expect from Scorsese this is very violent and bloody but its engaging stuff. ****