What's wrong with slow?

Rating: Null/10 (18 December 2002)

In a fast-food age we get fast-food criticism. So nobody can take time to prepare a nice meal? So nobody ever enjoys slow sex? So nobody appreciates the slow movement of a sonata? Yes, this movie moves slowly. So do most of Leone's movies. So, for that matter, did the much-acclaimed Road to Perdition. The difference between this one and that is that Once Upon a Time is at least colorful. This is a dreamy gangster epic that should be appreciated on its own terms. Gangsters are a type, and virtually every movie about them trades on that type. So what? The story here is little different than the story that lies behind all gangster flicks: Bad guys doing bad things, usually as simply and brutally as possible. Some treatments are multi-generational. Some are cynical. Some are hard-boiled (see The Long Good Friday). This one is sentimental and accented perfectly by Morricone's syrupy score. Sit back and relax and enjoy it less as the most artful example of its genre and than a satisfying piece of entertainment. Not Leone's best (The Good, the Bad and the Ugly and Once Upon a Time in the West get the nod) but assuming you're not really in the mood for Hard Boiled or Run, Lola, Run, you should get pleasure from this movie.