Watch this for Daniel Day-Lewis

Rating: 7/10 (24 January 2012)

There are obviously problems with this movie. The story is crappy, Diaz is superfluous and Leo is barely passable. And wow, is it long. They could have cut out huge portions of the thing and it would have been tighter and much more interesting.
For the people who say that the behavior of the mobs is unrealistic: Read a history book. The portrayal of people at their worst is refreshingly frank, and while Scorsese is pro-poor, he thankfully isn't deluded enough to BS this topic. The history of that period, of urban gang life and unrest, really stands out as the second most interesting part of the film to me, and it was really disappointing that Scorsese had to tack on a dull revenge/romance plot to justify spending the money to bring the period to life. I definitely think Scorsese should have found a better way, story-wise, to integrate the characters into the history. The cinematography is very good, same as the glimpse into the culture. If the story had been fresh or unpredictable or... meh
Anyway, the MOST interesting part of this thing is Daniel Day-Lewis, playing a character with a charisma all his own. You can't look away when he's on screen. This is, for some people, a form of overacting, but not me. I thought Lewis' performance was fantastic, nearly as good as his role in There Will Be Blood, and I'm definitely looking forward to his portrayal of Lincoln.