Day Lewis stole the show, hands down

Rating: 9/10 (30 June 2005)

This is a very good picture, but not a great one. Martin Scorsese brings us a very medieval look to late 1800s New York. It works for this movie, it is it's own world that is easy to get caught up into. It is a bit too long, but any one who considers themselves a fan of acting needs to see this. The reason is the performance of Daniel Day Lewis as William "Bill the Butcher" Cutting. He is simply wonderful, it is the best performance in the history of cinema...period. He completely wraps himself into the character. Very soon into the movie, it becomes clear that this has turned into a display case for Day Lewis' talent. He is mesmerizing, he steals every scene, although it was not too difficult to steal the scenes from Cameron Diaz and Leonardo Dicaprio (I must say that Leo's performance was not bad, he showed great potential, Diaz was out of place) Diaz is not an actor, she is a movie star, Leo is border line, but everyone else is an actor, John C. Reily, Jim Broadbent, Liam Neisen, and of course the completely underrated Daniel Day Lewis. See the movie for his performance, it is still very good and entertaining.