Not for casual viewing.

Rating: 10/10 (19 November 2018)

"Once Upon A Time In America" is not a film for casual viewing, and it may need more than one viewing to truly grasp its story telling. That said, the restored version really takes this film to an incredibly level, at least for me.
I was intrigued with the movie when I first saw it in its truncated version. Some of the scenes were a little too intense for me, such as Elizabeth McGovern's character getting raped, and they still are. But it also shows the brutality of gangster life, and in that sense it's maybe a little closer to reality than The Godfather. But like the Godfather movies, there's also a deep sense of tragedy.
And yet, when Robert DeNiro's character clearly declines to kill the character James Woods plays at the end of the movie, it makes me wonder who the real victor was at the end of the film. By 1968, Noodles was living in Buffalo, seemingly a changed man, while Max had become the wealthy Secretary Bailey, but it was Bailey who was finally taking the fall for all his wrongdoing. Noodles presumably would return alive.
My only quibbles with the film are that there wasn't enough care with historical accuracy. People in 1968 wearing 1982 fashions and hairstyles? Noodles driving a rental 1962 Pontiac? At least they got David Bailey's style right.
Don't expect Star Wars or some action flick. On the whole, a story very well worth watching!