A realistic gangster story of epic proportions- but slow paced and exposition heavy.

Rating: 7/10 (28 May 2016)

Set during the Prohibition era, Once Upon A Time In America follows the story of David 'Noodles' Aaronson (Robert De Niro) firstly growing up on Lower East Side of Manhatten, committing petty crimes such as minor thefts and robberies to later becoming a prominent mobster in adult life. The film explores themes such as lust, betrayal, greed, love and friendship all while portraying the rise of syndicate gangs and the Mafia in American society. Once Upon A Time In America undoubtedly tells an magnificent and realistic story of epic proportions, but this in a way is the films undoing, at a run time of 229 minutes the film seems to drag on far too long and develops at a slower pace than it needed to. Being Sergio Leone's final film, it originally came under a mixed response with two different versions of the film released in theatres the Original European Version and the American Cut. However, has since gone on to be labelled as one of the greatest gangster films of all time. Despite being a different genre of film from Leone's normal work, many of his signature traits such as long shots, visual expression and the iconic Ennio Morricone Spaghetti western soundtrack are noticeable and definitely positive points for the film. I also found mainly the second act and latter part of the first act to be more faster paced and interesting moments in the film as Noodles transitions from childhood to adult hood. Also the final scenes complete the motion picture brilliantly with a conclusive and pleasing ending. However, going back to my previous point that the film is far longer than it needed to be, this is evident mainly in the films first act with some scenes feeling far too slow and some even slightly irrelevant to the films progressive plot. The film is told through flashbacks from 1968 and starts being told from a in media res prospective, filling us in with important details and exposition as the film progresses, this works well and is mainly the only reason I remained fully focused and engaged. The Film also features a disappointing lack of action for a gangster flick and even at a 229 minutes, an important robbery scene was unfortunately cut out that a lot of the film focused on and seemingly built too, therefore it all seeming a waste. Another point to note is it attempts to hit you hard with emotions at times but these fall flat (with the exception of a few during the first act) because of the characters being violent, dangerous and brutal, meaning we don't connect with them very well on this level. Once Upon A Time In America features a beautiful soundtrack, signature Leone traits and tells an epic story which for the most part is engaging. However it's lack of action and drawn out scenes of exposition and dialogue mean it seems to trudge at a snails pace and doesn't always keep you gripped. 7/10