Not Scorcese's finest, but certainly worth seeing

Rating: Null/10 (1 January 2003)

After seeing the movie, I have to say that the cinematography and editing in this film were up there with Scorcese's finest works. The shots of the detailed mid 19th century New York backdrop were fantastic and wholy believable.
DiCaprio gives a good performance as Amsterdam Vallon, the son of a priest murdered by the local gang leader, Bill the Butcher. It is Daniel Day Lewis, playing this maniacal yet strangely likeable character that is truly the star of the show. Day-Lewis manages to evoke opposing emotions in the viewers, for his actions in certain scenes bring disgust and hatred to the screen while others portray his own inner weakness and humble beginnings which are not that different from Vallon's.
Cameron Diaz as the clever pickpocket with a scarred past adds a welcome flavor of playfulness to the film at points. However, she comes from a darker past just as the other main characters and this in a way ties them all together in a deeper sense.
Overall, many segments in the movie come across like excerpts from a very good piece of literature: detailed and completely engrossing. Certain shots, namely the zoom-out from the five points, the pre-battle prayers by Vallon, Bill the Butcher and the rich aristocrat, and the end shot of the graveyard tie to the individual struggles in the movie well yet motion towards a meaning more epic in scale. However, other parts in the movie seem unrealistic and even stretched and hamper the overall flow. The events like the draft riots seem put in place as an afterthought to the conflict between Vallon and The Butcher, which takes away the realism of the film. The battle scenes themselves are done well cinematically speaking, but the reasons for them existing and their relevance to the central struggle seem questionable. This movie is definitely worth seeing, though you'll be disappointed if you're expecting Taxi Driver, Raging Bull or Casino.
Rating: 8/10