Reasonably fun, but overrated.

Rating: 7/10 (16 May 2005)

Gangster movies are always popular; they combine the quick action of the Wild West with a certain degree of politeness and courtesy that makes the whole world seem intriguingly different to anything else you've seen. And it makes for reasonable cinema; but it's not the film many people make it out to be. It's enjoyable, and it probably will hold your attention. The fact that it's based on a true story, too, adds a little quality to it that makes it intriguing. But the character development is limited; only De Niro's character really seems to move during the film, and in that way, reality loses out to cinema fiction here. As a documentary, I think something like this would have been very fascinating. As a film, though, it seems to be lacking something somewhere down the line.
When all's said and done, it's a decent and enjoyable film, but there are plenty of better films out there. It's worth a watch, sure. It has some good performances, from an impressive cast - De Niro's performance is as good as you might hope or expect from him - and the film's ending is certainly memorable. But at the end, it feels a little stretched at 2 1/2 hours, and it falls short of being spectacular.