Day-Lewis made this film

Rating: 10/10 (22 December 2002)

Let me start out saying that I am a true Scorsese fan. I have seen all of his films and enjoyed almost all of them, New York, New York and Boxcar Bertha aside. I have the deepest respect for the man, his movies, and his morals. Gangs of New York was a fully realized dream for Scorsese. And I enjoyed it more than any movie in years. However, it wasn't the flawless diamond many have made it out to be. There were a few major problems, namely:
1) DiCaprio. I know that he was one of the main factors in allowing Scorsese the gain the funding and backing to create this film, and this would've been GREAT, if only he had stayed out of the movie itself. DiCaprio, although it looks like his nose has been twisted out of shape with a pair of pliers and his beard looks like the groin of a 14 year old boy, is supposedly some sort of sex symbol. His acting is atrocious. His accent fluctuates from a deep Irish dialect to some sort of Hugh Grant imitation. And he has deeply profound lines such as "The earth turns, but we don't feel it move". His love scenes are horrible. He is a wimp. He looks like a wimp. No matter how tough he tries to be, he will always be a wimp. I realize that some of these problems are due in part to the script, which I will address next.
2) The Script. Many of DiCaprio's lines were ridiculous. Many seemed out of place. I think a lot of this is due to Weinstein's insistence that the movie be cut by an hour, and a bad thing got worse when Scorsese, for whatever reason, refused to add them back in for the DVD. When you write lines for an actor that is not very proficient in his field (with the exception of Gilbert Grape), you have to make sure that those lines are very solid and easy to perform. Unfortunately for those of us who waited so long for this movie, Dicaprio's weren't. A lot of the characters, especially Jenny Everdeane, seemed to have almost no real relevance to the movie at all. It seemed like they threw it in at the last minute just to attract moviegoers, and I suspect it was the doing of Weinstein. This is unfortunate, because without such distractions, I think this movie would've had fared much better. Removing those unnecessary subplots would've freed up enough time for all that Scorsese was required to cut out. How sad. The voice-over narration for Casino and Goodfellas was exemplary to the highest degree. Not so in Gangs. The voice-over narration that DiCaprio provided was nothing short of disgraceful.
3) The Music. I know a lot of you disagree on this point, but I'm gonna say it anyway. The music in some areas of this movie was breathtaking, other times it sounded like a bunch of Confederate soldiers whistling Dixie along with a harmonica. Not even close to comparing to many of Scorsese's previous soundtracks. A little rough around the edges.
4) The Cinematography. I must admit, the scenes at the beginning of the movie (when Dad dies) had me out of my seat cheering along with the rest of the theater. The cinematography wasn't bad. But it wasn't the Scorsese-Ballhaus imagery that we're used to. I applaud them for trying out a few new techniques, but all these new shots utterly failed. Since when has a Scorsese movie relied on newspaper headlines or flashbacks? There were a few scenes that really got to me, such as the water reverberating across the Bible that DiCaprio threw into the river after leaving prison. I would have really enjoyed the scenes where the rioters broke into and looted the houses of the rich, had the horrible tap-tapping of a telegraph machine been removed along with the guy that was pitifully screaming out the meaning of these telegraph wires. Those things aside, the cinematography was great.
All in all, Gangs was extraordinary. This was a movie I wanted so much to love with all my heart, but no matter how hard I tried I still only felt little more than lukewarm about it. My second viewing was better, but the flaws I had noticed before seemed to bother doubly. But, then again, so did the movie's great moments. Such as every scene that Daniel Day-Lewis is in. No matter how this movie fares, Day-Lewis better win the Oscar for Best Actor or I'll eat my hat. Better yet, I'll run over to the Academy and make them eat their's. I can do nothing but laud his performance. His accent was perfect, his demeanor was sharp. All of his lines were carried out with swift enthusiasm and cunning wit. His acting job was the best I have seen in years, maybe even the last ten or fifteen. He saved the movie and made it real. In my opinion, if he had not been cast, this movie would've tanked, both with critics and the public. Certainly with me. No matter what faults and flaws can be found, this movie will still be breathtaking. It is too epic to suffer belittlement and too proud to suffer defeat.