Very different, yet very good Scorsese

Rating: 9/10 (25 December 2002)

Personally I found this movie to be extraordinary. This movie may not be the best of Martin Scorsese's work, but it ranks among his best in my opinion. I read in a Roger Ebert review that this movie resembles a Dicken's novel. I think that is a very accurate description, as Leonardo Dicaprio (Amsterdam) serves as the eyes and ears of the potential viewer to this colorful, vibrant, run-down, and dirty world that has now since passed into both history and legend. Throughout the movie, doors are constantly kicked and yanked open, thrusting us headfirst into the events that unfurl jarringly before the viewer who is powerless to stop what happens.
This movie also seems to recall a epic filmmaking quality that has either disappeared, or has only existed in a sort of transparent, watered-down form. I was reminded of the sprawling, beguiling, beautiful, flawed, and passionate silent epics that all seemed to have an inherent great message in them. This is a very different and very good Scorsese film that I feel is one of the best films of the year.