contains spoilers

Rating: 10/10 (26 July 2015)

Once Upon a Time in America was never a favorite, due to pacing primarily and the ending, in particular. I liked Henry Fonda's character better as a villain in Once Upon a Time in the West. However, I have to say, James Wood's Max character was better written, on review. This guy killed his buddies, stole their money and faked his own death. Now on seeing it again, I realize what the ending was showing. Max intended to betray Noodles (De Niro) one more time. He set Noodles up with a slow reveal, showing him the truth bit by bit, so that Noodles would be murderous and kill him before the feds locked him up or his cronies killed him. That seemed like justice and I used to think the film should have ended there. However, the scene with the garbage truck at the end shows that Max was going to "whack" Noodles posthumously. So even in death, that creep wanted to betray him again. What a hateful person. Didn't get that on previous viewings. The rape scene was also telling. Noodles never loved Deborah, he loved the idea of her. She had feelings for him and enjoyed playing hard to get with him. Instead of respecting her and attempting to connect, he tried to use brute force, first with money (at the fancy dinner) and then literally. Being in love with your idea of someone isn't the same as being in love. This was three movies in one.