Hooray For The Ham

Rating: 4/10 (27 January 2017)

Martin Scorcese seems to have a penchant for creating films about loathsome characters. That being said, the low-lifes in this film make the gang in GoodFellas seem like a bunch of guys you'd really like to hang with.
If you can like a film about dislikeable people, then the director of that film has really achieved something (GoodFellas, for example). This movie however left me with an excruciating three-hour urge to strangle someone. In fact, the only thing I found myself applauding was the piece of ham that got caught in the throat of Donnie Azoff (played to the nth degree of irritation by Jonah Hill).
Speaking of ham, the entire cast was guilty of histrionic hysteria, including the usually reliable Leonard DiCaprio. They all seemed eager to show the audience just how pleased they were to be in a Scorcese movie. And Scorcese himself seemed eager to show the audience that he can still make a film that is not even near as good as, but is kinda, sorta, almost like GoodFellas (hadn't he learned anything from Casino?)
This is the 2nd time I've panned a Scorcese film on this site, so I decided to look at his body of work and see how many of his films I've truly enjoyed over the years. There aren't many. GoodFellas, Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore, The Last Temptation of Christ, The Last Waltz, and After Hours are my choices for his best efforts.
I wouldn't suggest that Mr. Scorcese is not a good director. I just wish he would make more movies about people and things we can care about.
Now, if he could just make a whole movie about that piece of ham...