Long, Drawn-Out, and Pointless

Rating: 5/10 (22 December 2002)

Let me first say that I might have missed something in this movie, but I do not know what it would take to have satisfied me. To start with, I glanced at my watch several times, which is a bad sign to begin with. I should want the movie to keep going, not to end. As far as drawn-out goes, the time that Amsterdam spends with Bill building up their relationship should definitely have been cut back, and the time he spent building is gang/army should have been increased; there was no explanation of how he banded them all together. In the final showdown, a dual plot showed up with the draft riots and the street battle that was utterly pointless. I am confused as to whether they are saying that the draft was bad and that Lincoln was wrong or what? The final scene between Amsterdam and Bill was anti-climatic at best. Overall, a major disappointment.