Could have been so much better....

Rating: 5/10 (22 June 2010)

After watching this movie over the weekend I was left with the impression that Sergio Leone would have been better served by going into more detail on the early part of the movie which was far more entertaining than the turgid middle section and the woeful last hour. I am normally very good at staying with a movie that jumps around but this was a nightmare. It might have made a genuine epic if the tale was told chronologically rather than the backward / forwards mess it became.
The story is too complex and tries to be all things to all men. Too many plot lines and incidental characters are introduced only for their purpose or contributions to be left unfinished so the viewer is ultimately unfulfilled.
Having said that I was impressed with the acting - James Woods, Robert De Niro (and even Danny Aiello) who all put in stellar performances.
Spanning several decades this movie was never going to be easy to squeeze into almost 4 hours on screen. While I found the first half gruesome, violent, funny and entertaining by turns overall I was disappointed with this 'epic' homage to the gangster. It felt like decades passed - particularly while watching the last hour.