Failed to Achieve Lofty Goals

Rating: 6/10 (21 November 2018)

(Flash Review)
This is a serious epic at a beefy 3:49 that tediously moved at a restrained pace. The extensive duration did lead to good character development told through well-edited flashbacks, present time and flash forwards. I felt that this strove to emulate The Godfather and Goodfellas, perhaps even Scarface, yet pales in comparison because it failed to connect me to characters in a way that I cared what happened to them. It bred indifference. I didn't care about anyone. Even the bad guys in a slew of other gangster films, I certainly formed an opinion about; positive or negative. That = viewer connection. The editing between eras was clever yet the editing within each scene often really dragged at times. While occasionally effective, as it can deliver a dramatic charge when needed, I had to keep my eyelids from dropping at other times. It had all the right ingredients just mixed and stirred poorly. Especially, if your bad ass protagonist is named Noodles! C'mon! See it if you must check it off your gangster or De Niro list.