GoNY, nothing more than an embellished, average-looking girl

Rating: 5/10 (17 April 2008)

Standard revenge story on the backdrop of a historic period which apparently didn't get much screen time.
OK, the backdrop is interesting, but the main storyline is drab and somehow the two things seemed to me too much disjointed. The characters are simplistic and generally they do not go through any kind of developmentwhich could get me to feel for them. In such conditions, the most interesting character is quite obviously the 'honorable villain' Cutting (Day-Lewis), while the 'dirty but good' ones are rather flat and maybe suffering from not-so-smart casting choices: I found Cameron Diaz as a red-haired Irish pickpocket hardly believable and Di Caprio as a riot leader is unconvincing to the least.
Gangs of New York tries hard to revive a piece of history in a way that is intended to show depth and broadness, with a sprinkle of realism. To show depth, it focuses on a plethora of secondary characters and small subplot which take entirely too much screen time. To show broadness, it encompasses events that only bear a vague connection to the main characters. To claim realism, it relies on graphic violence, and a casual shopper attitude in make use of historic events and names.
But what it lacks in its core, can't be compensated by just piling up a vast array of characters, big screen names and a whole lot of things that just happen one after the other.
And if you take apart the coating, it's nothing more than an embellished average looking girl - quite typical for big budget movies in recent years, to be fair.