Lengthy Gangster Flick

Rating: 5/10 (2 December 2019)

I confess I don't like gangster movies. As such, I normally would never consider seeing this film but it has received so much hype that I figured that maybe it would be different from the rest: It wasn't.
There is no denying the quality of the production - everything about it is executed to perfection, great direction, beautifully shot, excellent acting but, it is a gangster movie and I just can't relate to it.
Although there is a degree of interest from an historical perspective - particularly matters relating to the union movement, I am not from the USA and they don't mean as much to me as they otherwise may have.
I did find the film a little difficult to follow at times - often the case with gangster flicks, and at 3 1/2 hours in length it does tend to drag a little. I think it may have been better reduced to about 2 hours.
A lot of reviewers have rated this movie very highly, Ratings that it probably deserves for its quality but at the end of day, a movie is primarily intended to entertain - something that it failed to do for me.
As I say, I don't like gangster movies and in hindsight, I should have avoided it.
The five stars are for the film's quality, If I was rating it for entertainment value alone it would have received just one.