possibly the great American biopic of the 1980s

Rating: 10/10 (13 January 2000)

That's entertainment.
That, and one of the most influential films for me in my life, in films and just in general. Only a handful of pics have the same emotional and visceral impact seeing it at 26 the way it did when I was 12. In fact it's even deeper now some of it; when Jake confronts Joey in 1958 in the parking garage, this time seeing it, after seeing the scene countless times, it got to me and a few Jack-tears welled up. But not crying, whaddaya want, ya basterds.
I could go on about how it's got the greatest boxing scenes in any movie. I could go on about Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci are the B's-and-E's of movie acting at the time. I could go on how Scorsese's influence of the Clash made the movie that much better, if only subliminally. But hey, why go on. You should just see it. Preferably on a big screen where every PUNCH and EDIT get to you in Scorsese and Schoonmaker's kinetic, pile-driving cinema.