Gangs of New York leaves much to be desired as pure entertainment.

Rating: 3/10 (23 December 2002)

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Gangs of New York is a violent drama set in New York's Five Points area in 1861-62; it uses the American Civil War [more on this later] as a backdrop. This period has massive Irish Catholic immigration; their large numbers and willingness to work for less threaten the native born' [mostly Protestants] and social structure in Northeast Cities like NYC. Age-old religious bigotry comes along as excess baggage and the melting pot' becomes a boiling cauldron. A child, nicknamed Amsterdam, is orphaned when the native-born gang leader Bill the Butcher [Daniel Day-Lewis] kills his father. Amsterdam [Leonardo DiCaprio] returns to the scene as a man seeking calculated revenge. As young men will do, he is fascinated by Jenny [Cameron Diaz] a pickpocket by day and a ward of the Butchers by night. The story builds to a crescendo as riots erupt with institution of a draft by Lincoln to staff the Union Army.
Gangs of New York leaves much to be desired as pure entertainment. At a superficial level, this film is over the top with violence, costumes, sets and action. It looks more like a surreal Kevin Coster creative failure [Water World and The Postman come to mind] than a movie with a message. The characters are not sympathetic, although Diaz is so good in her part that she's almost unrecognizable and Day-Lewis is a legitimate villain. A major problem with this film is that five [5] minutes into the story you know exactly how it's going to end a mere 2hrs 48 min later , almost 3 hours]. The only question is how many heads get bashed in the process.

Gangs of New York is directed by film great Martin Scorsese and distributed by Miramax Films who pride themselves in picking Oscar winners; the latter point explains all the publicity hype around the film. Scorsese and Miramax wouldn't waste their resources on a period version of The Godfather or West Side Story [for you romantics]; if that's all you're expecting save your time and money. This film is open to multiple interpretations. The story is a metaphor for the Civil War and Abraham Lincoln's successful effort to save the Union and create one nation. The gangs represent the war between two peoples with a common language and homeland. Irish immigrants stepping of the boats and unknowingly enlisted in the Union army parallel Africans sold into slavery. Coffins being off-loaded from the same boats show the senselessness of slavery. The draft induced civilian riots ultimately end in destruction of the gangs, unity among the immigrants and civilian order established by Federal troops showing that the Union is saved. That's my story and I'm sticking with it.