wonderful to look at

Rating: Null/10 (21 February 2012)

the sets, the costumes, the settings. This is a beautiful movie to look at. You feel like you really have dropped in to the middle of an 1800s slum in New York. And boy is it ever gritty. this is the birth pains of America in all its gory. And yes, that is not a typo. This is a brutally violent movie. There are no real heroes above reproach. It's an ugly tale of greed, hatred, bigotry, racism, debauchery, pride, humiliation, and there's no final scene with a redemption.
Daniel Day Lewis mesmerizes with his performance. He IS Bill the Butcher. You totally forget he could be anyone else. His Bill is pompous, self-righteous, vile, and yet carries with him a sense of honor, although his definition is definitely twisted.
DiCaprio has a harder time making us forget he is a Hollywood A-list actor. But he tries and he does well at times. But once in a while, the camera can't help but showcase his pretty-boy good looks. Even when his hair is greasy and dirty it still looks like a matinée idol "perfect" kind of dirty. Telling is the scene where he is supposedly scarred for life on the cheek with a red hot knife blade. Yet five minutes later you see his face, almost untouched, as if he was just filming a Dove Soap commercial.
Cameron Diaz has a strange un-placeable accent. But she tries and does OK as the street pickpocket. Unfortunately the 'romance' between her and DiCaprio seems very forced and misplaced in this tale. It probably could have done without that at all. Sure, let them sleep together but there should be no love romance about it. This awkward romance is the weakest link in the whole film and probably the source of the poor reviews of Diaz's acting. It's not really her fault. It's the story.
The story isn't overly complicated. No twists nor turns. You watch because you know what's going to happen, but you want to see how it happens and what the outcomes affect on the main characters will be.
Overall, 7/10.