Once Upon a Time in America......

Rating: 10/10 (12 February 2006)

Once Upon a Time in America is about a Jewish gangster who returns to Brooklyn over 30 years later and tries to confront his sins and the regrets of his old life in the hood. This is the first Sergio Leone film I have seen and before seeing this movie, I didn't know what to think of it, so I rented it. I liked it and I thought most of the performances were top notch especially James Woods and of course my favorite actor, Robert DeNiro. The screenplay is greatly written, the dialogue is fantastic, and most of all Ennio Morricone's score is terrific. For the first two hours, the movie was excellent. Everything was going great and there was such great scenes and great storytelling. The problem I had was the next two hours of the film, which I thought was pretty flat. There were a couple memorable scenes, but I thought that most scenes of the second part were boring and could've been a lot better. Overall, this is a good 4 hour movie that leaves Sergio Leone on a great note for many fans, but this could've been a perfect 10 for me if the second part of the film wasn't flat, since the first two hours of the film were fantastic. I recommend it.
Hedeen's Outlook: 7.5/10 *** B-