Genius

Rating: 10/10 (3 February 2009)

This is a movie that I had heard about and was told that it was something special. To be honest I was a little skeptical. I've seen to many Robert De Niro films and can almost predict how hes gonna handle the role after seeing a few minutes of him in character. Im never exactly right but I'm usually pretty close. Ask my stepdad. But he did this in a way that I didn't expect. This performance is Immortal. And I don;t want to ruin it for anyone so I'll say no more on it.
Now the film itself is a film that could be great with the worst cast. But because each cast member gives a sublime performance, the film is all the better for it. I was especially impressed with James Hayden who I thought was the best actor during the ruthless scenes but you never thought he was overly ruthless as a character out of those scenes.
The film is like a long visual poem. Each segment is beautiful, sometimes haunting and seamless. The lighting captures the emotion perfectly, sometime appearing contradictory to the mood but that bolsters the audience's unease. Overall the camera-work is stunning.
Forget every great script you've read or heard in film. This one is terse, occasionally taciturn and highly entertaining. Words cannot describe something full of them.
This is a masterpiece. No Godfather comparisons please. Different types of gangster films which are incomparable.