Visually OK and some very good acting, too bad the story didn't completely convince me

Rating: 7/10 (7 April 2005)

My advice to everybody who wants to hear it: beware of movies that get hyped by the media and marketing campaigns. Most of the time you'll be very disappointed by this movies, not because they are bad, but only because you expect way too much of it. And it was exactly the same with this movie. It was announced as the best movie of 2002 (In my opinion that is 'The Pianist', but everyone is entitled to his or her own opinion of course), if not ever and that is certainly not the truth. I'm not saying it is a bad movie, it just isn't that great.
The main reason why it isn't all that great is because the story is a bit weak, at least during the first two hours it is. The film starts in 1846, when two gangs, the "Dead Rabbits" and the "Natives" get involved into a major gang war. The people who were born in the USA call themselves the "Natives", the "Dead Rabbits" are the Irish immigrants (don't ask me where that name comes from, I don't know and I find it a rather stupid name for a violent gang, but perhaps it has a deeper meaning that I don't know), who are shipped to New York by the thousands. When the leader of the Dead Rabbits is killed by the leader of the Natives, the war for New York's Five Points has been fought. But the son has seen his father die and all he can think about is revenge. In 1863, when released from an institution, he joins the gang of the Natives, so he can finally avenge his father's death...
I have to admit that these gang wars don't interest me all that much. I mean, is this based on true events or was it just made up by the writers of the script so they would have an interesting story to tell that also shows the lawlessness of those days? I don't know, but it just didn't appeal to me all that much. However, what I did like in the story was the uprising against the Draft for the Civil War. I'm mostly interested in WWI and WWII, but I find the Civil War interesting as well. Apparently the fact that so many people were enlisted while they just set a foot on land really happened and was interesting to watch.
Even though the story isn't the real star of the movie, I must admit that visually this movie was absolutely beautiful. The way everything was portrayed makes clear that we are dealing with a master here (not that I've ever doubted about Scorcese's talent). And the movie did not only look good, the acting in it was also very good. I was especially surprised by Cameron Diaz' performance. I must admit that she did a nice job in this movie, as did Leonardo DiCaprio and Daniel Day-Lewis.
All in all I would say that this isn't a bad movie, but that it could have been better. Visually it was all OK and the acting was nice, but the story could have been better. That's why I give this movie a 7/10, perhaps a 7.5/10, but certainly nothing more than that.