Stick with the westerns

Rating: 2/10 (18 April 2015)

First of all: It would take a lot of excitement and quality to justify four hours of runtime. This is simply not given. The scenes drag for no apparent reason. A long intermission between sentences can have a strong impact on occasion, but not if it's in almost every scene. An ugly rape scene has zero consequence - when the involved characters meet again, it is like nothing has happened.
Usually the involvement of Ennio Morricone upgrades a movie immediately, but in this case the soundtrack is badly chosen and badly edited, same thing goes for sound effects.
If you like slow-paced, long movies, there are a few good ones out there (Ben Hur, Lawrence of Arabia). But "Once Upon A Time In America" is just forgettable. After reading a few positive reviews I get the impression that the biggest argument for this movie is that it's pretty to look at. At times it is, which is why it gets two stars from me instead of just one.