So boring I wanted to cry- a character study with no sympathetic characters

Rating: 1/10 (19 October 2014)

When I found this tape in my collection, I was astounded that I had missed it when it came out. The cast list reads like a who's who of awesome actors, suited perfectly for a gangster movie. And Sergio Leone directing! Wow! I read several reviews comparing this movie to the Godfather and Goodfellas, and was over the moon to see it. I set my machine up, got ready and sat down. An hour and a half later (I fast forwarded through so much of it) I was dulled to the point of near madness. The cinematography was great, and brilliantly imaged, but literally nothing of importance happened in this entire movie. The characters were unsympathetic with back stories of little to no relevance or interest. The plot dragged on ad nauseum, padded by long close ups of "dramatic" faces staring contemplatively as if they knew something we didn't. Oh they did, and that was that you should go to bed early and skip this one entirely. The few action scenes were few and far between, and the interminable dialog and love interest offal seemed to drag forever. Maybe I missed something, because I had to fast forward through a lot of this movie, something I rarely do, but I just couldn't stand it after the overwhelming pretentiousness of each character's chatter. Worst of all, nothing happened of interest. Nothing. It was as if the movie were made for the sole purpose of getting Oscar attention, without any nod to entertainment value. If you make a period gangster film, make it better than a History Channel documentary. the only redeeming quality of this film was the cinematography and the old cars. Instead, just watch Godfather and then go to a car show.