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Gangs of New York Starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Daniel Day-Lewis Directed by Martin Scorsese Rated R for intense strong violence, sexuality/nudity and language ***1/4 out of 4 Stars, Movie Grade: A

Released December 20, 2002

Running time: 168 minutes

by Kevin Lang

America was born in the streets boasted the advertisements for Martin Scorsese's new nineteenth century New York epic, "Gangs of New York." In some ways this may be true, but many other people helped "build" America, not just people who chose to break the law to get their fare share of capitalism and democracy. The social commentary beneath the surface of "Gangs of New York" in some ways may have led to the only flaw in a nearly great film. It was a film that elicited the passion, fever, and spectacle of the time in a grand and attractive manner worthy of praise.

The story did not involve the gangs of New York nearly as much as the title might lead one to believe. It instead surrounded Amsterdam Vallon (Leonardo DiCaprio) and William (Bill the Butcher) Cutting. Amsterdam was an Irish immigrant who came to America when he was just a boy. His father, known as the Priest and played by Liam Neeson, was the leader of an Irish New York City gang known as the Dead Rabbits. The Priest died at the hand of a rival native gang leader known as Bill the Butcher, in a notorious battle at New York City's Five Points. After Amsterdam witnessed his father be struck down by the Butcher, who detested foreigners of all races, Amsterdam was taken away, and he didn't return to the Five Points until fifteen years later.

Upon his return, he bumped into an old friend from his youth, as well as Jenny Everdeane (Cameron Diaz), a local pickpocket who stole his watch not long after meeting him. After following Jenny and to get his watch back, the two began to realize their attraction for one another, which resulted in several enjoyable scenes of passionate interaction. Cameron Diaz gave a strong but not exceptional performance as Ms. Everdeane.

The majority of the hype surrounding "Gangs of New York" was around Daniel Day-Lewis' performance as the Butcher. Lewis delivered an Oscar worthy performance, and may very well be rewarded, but his character, though on screen a lot in the film, seemed underdeveloped overall. What made him so ruthless? We never really came to understand this. Lewis did deliver an entertaining character whose practically every action grabbed our attention. Look for a scene near the end where the Butcher taps his glass eye with the blade of his knife, which was once the location of the eye that he had himself cut out as punishment for being unable to look his enemy fully in the eye.

The only real discrepancy that I had with "Gangs of New York" was that the film's ending felt inconsistent with the story that had developed up until that point. The conclusion, which I feel should have focused more on the battle between Amsterdam and the Butcher, became distracted by a developing Civil War subplot that ended up quieting the fight between Amsterdam and the Butcher, which with regard to the main storyline that had developed throughout, should have been focused on much more intensely.

Overall, "Gangs of New York" was a well-made film with strong performances and an enjoyable story. The only downside was the ending, which focused more on trying to almost unite the "hands that built America," instead of letting them finish their fighting.

"Gangs of New York" Review written December 19, 2002, CTF.