One Of The Greatest Films Ever Made. An Excellent Gangster Film And An Unforgettable Epic Masterpiece From Sergio Leone.

Rating: 10/10 (12 June 2013)

Once Upon A Time In America is an absolute Masterpiece of cinema that is filled with excellent direction,great acting and a haunting and beautiful score. It's not only one of my favorite films and one of best Gangster films ever made,but,also one of the greatest films ever made and is another Sergio Leone Masterpiece.
Set in Lower Manhattan,New York,Once Upon A Time In America tells the story of the rise and fall of four Jewish Gangsters during the prohibition era and the friendship of gangsters and friends David 'Noodles' Aaronson(Robert De Niro)and Maximilian 'Max' Bercovicz(James Woods) Over the course of five decades,from the 1910s to the 1960s Noodles and Max experience success,failure,death and betrayal.
Once Upon A Time In America was Sergio Leone's final film before his death in 1989 and is a beautiful and haunting Masterpiece of cinema that was butchered by Warner Bros. When Once Upon A Time In America was released at the Cannes film festival the original version was an epic that ran 3 hrs and 49 minutes(229 minutes)and that version was critically acclaimed by critics and received a standing ovation at Cannes. However,when the film was released in America OUTIA was cut down buy Warner Bros to 2 hrs and 19 mintues(139 minutes)and was hated by critics. But thankfully,Leone's four hour version was released years later and seen as a Masterpiece and rightfully so it's just sad Leone didn't live longer to see his amazing film get the respect it deserves. Once Upon A Time In America is one of the greatest films ever made an powerful and unforgettable epic Gangster film that ranks alongside other excellent Gangster films like The Godfather Trilogy,Goodfellas and Casino and other Gangster classics like Scarface and Carlito's Way. OUTIA is an epic in the truest since of the word an epic not only in scope but in length and everything is big and large whether it is the characters or things all around. What Sergio Leone did with the Western with his Man With No Name Trilogy and Once Upon A Time In The West he does with the Gangster film with OUTIA with Leone taking trademarks that are often related to Gangster films and making them bigger than life and telling the story with violence,brutality and sadness mixing beauty and harshness. Although a Gangster film,OUTIA at it's heart is a story about the friendship between Noodles and Max from the times when they were when were Teenagers to when they became adults and not only depicting their rise and fall as Gangsters but their rise and fall as friends and how they start to go against each other and things change. The relationship between Noodles and Max feels real and true never fake. Noodles and Max are characters that aren't always likable but you witness their tragic and complex relationship and at times feel bad for them. Along with being a Gangster film OUTIA is also a great Coming Of Age tale because the first half of the film shows viewers how Noodles and Max grew up and became friends and got to where they were as Gangsters. The Coming Of Age part of the film is told in a nice but bittersweet way showing the happy times that Noodles and Max had but also the sad parts that the two had when they were kids. Another thing that I love about this film is the flashback structure of the film and how it switches back from the past and the present showing them all from Noodles' point of view showing his guilt and nostalgia about the past and what's great about the flashback structure of the film is that the structure has a surreal feel to them it's as if were looking at a dream. The violence and sex scenes in the film will turn off some people because of the harshness and brutality of them but I think that the reason the violence and sex are disturbing and brutal is because Sergio Leone is showing us how it really was in the crime world in the 1920s and 1930s and is being true to that time period. hope viewers are not scared off by the running time of this film because OUATIA moves at a great pace and is one of the fastest four hours you will ever watch and the time will go by without a hitch. The ending of this film is powerful and one of the best endings in film history that will stay with you because of what happened and the ambiguity of the ending. An unforgettable ending.
The whole does great in their roles. Robert De Niro is excellent in one of his most underrated performances as Noodles,with De Niro bringing sadness,depth and intensity to the performance. James Woods is brilliant and fiery as Max and has great scenes and chemistry with De Niro. Elizabeth McGovern is wonderful as Deborah,Noodles love interest. Joe Pesci is great is his small role as Frankie Manoldi,a Detroit crime boss. Burt Young also great as Joe,an associate of Frankie's. Tuesday Weld is phenomenal and beautiful as Carol,a hooker that's Max's girlfriend. Scott Tiler(Young Noodles),Rusty Jacobs(Max)and Jennifer Connelly(Young Deborah)do great jobs as De Niro,Woods' and McGovern's young counterparts. Treat Williams(James Conway),Danny Aiello(Chief Vincent Aiello),Darlene Fluegel(Eve)and James Russo(Bugsy)give good performances as well.
The direction by Sergio Leone is brilliant and masterful,with Leone constantly moving the camera and using close-ups,great angles and bringing a beautiful visual style to the film. Amazing direction,Leone.
The score by Ennio Morricone is excellent,beautiful and unforgettable and one of the best scores in film history. Morricone's score fits in well with each scene and matches the epic and tragic tone of the film. A powerful score by Morricone.
In final word,if you love Sergio Leone,Gangster Films or Films in general,I highly suggest you see Once Upon A Time In America,a brilliant Gangster classic and a Masterpiece of cinema that you will never forget. Highly Recommended. 10/10.