Movie Review: Vanity Fair

Vanity Fair (2004) 

Directed by Mira Nair

Written by Julian Fellowes

Starring Reese Witherspoon, Eileen Atkins, Jim Broadbent, Gabriel Byrne, Romola Garai, Bob Hoskins

Release Date September 1st, 2004 

Published September 1st, 2004 

In its day, William Makepeace Thackeray's Vanity Fair, written in 1847, was a witty and scathing rebuke of the British society in which it was set. In the ensuing 157 years, even as society in Britain and elsewhere has changed, the wit of Thackeray's words has remained and Hollywood has taken notice more than once. First adapted in 1935 in the very first film ever in Technicolor, Thackeray's novel was renamed for its heroine Becky Sharp and won an Oscar nomination for star Miriam Hopkins.

The book found its greatest exposure in the mini-series format where it has been adapted three times. Because of the large number of characters, subplots, and endlessly witty dialogue exchanges the mini-series seems to be the truly ideal format for this story. A perfect example of that is the latest film adaptation of Vanity Fair by Mira Nair and Oscar-nominated screenwriter Julian Fellowes which evokes the images of the story but has no time for the depth and breadth of it.

Reese Witherspoon takes on the difficult role of Becky Sharp, the razor tongued social climber who in the book is not the most sympathetic creature. In the film, after a little back story about how Becky was the orphaned daughter of a starving artist sent to live and work in a finishing school, we find Becky taking advantage of the one friend she has made in her life Amelia Sedley (Romola Garai). In this scene at least Becky seems genuine, if a bit devilish towards her ex-schoolmates and teachers.

Becky is leaving the school to join Amelia and her family for a week before she begins life as a governess for Sit Pitt Crawley (Bob Hoskins). In the week with Amelia's family, Becky hopes to take advantage of her friend’s kindness and find herself a way into high society. Becky's chance opens up when Amelia's brother Jos returns from his military post in India. Jos is shy, overweight and easily mislead, the perfect patsy for Becky who would marry anyone to get into high society.

Unfortunately for Becky, Amelia's fiancé George Osbourne (Jonathan Rhys-Meyers) is far savvier than Jos and helps the fat man see through Becky's scheming. With no fiancé to help her climb the social ladder, Becky is off to the home of Sir Pitt Crawley where a whole new scheme must begin. It doesn't take someone of Becky's street smarts long to insinuate herself into an important position in the Crawley household. She makes an especially strong impression on the most important Crawley, Sir Pitt's sister Miss Crawley (Eileen Atkins) the one with all of the family's money.

Miss Crawley and Becky are fast friends as both have a quick and savage wit. Miss Crawley claims to detest the class system and any system that would place her dull witted clan ahead of someone like Becky simply because of breeding. However Miss Crawley's true feelings are tested after Becky elopes with Sir Pitt's youngest son Rawdon (James Purefoy) who was Miss Crawley's favorite and the one most likely to inherit the family fortune.

This is a lot of plot and I have not yet mentioned Rhys Ifans as Major Dobbin and Gabriel Byrne as Steyne both of whom are pivotal in the book but get a bit of a short shrift due the films 2 hrs 17 min. runtime. Even the plot I have already described is embellished a bit on my part from what I know from reading the book. Having read it, I can fill in the gaps that Ms. Nair and Mr. Fellowes rush over in order to get a more salable runtime.

Clearly there was some sort of studio mandate on runtime because there is simply no other way to make sense of the cuts made by the talented director and writer. People who have not read the book will often be left wondering what just happened as the plot points are introduced and left behind in mere moments as the narrative jumps ahead years in leaps and bounds. Important plots about deaths, births and cross-continental moves are left on the cutting room floor leaving the audience unsatisfied, with little to no catharsis or consideration.

To be fair Thackeray wasn't much interested in catharsis as he was in the witty, sexy, and devilishly clever banter of his characters, especially Becky Sharp. At the very least in the book, you have Thackeray as narrator offering some commentary on these life-changing events, usually with a very witty aside. There again points to another problem with the film, it lacks Thackeray's voice which is the books true source of humor. Like the cattiest of gossips, Thackeray's narration let us inside the thoughts of each character and spelled out important motivations.

The filmmakers rely heavily on their actors to deliver the characters inner lives and while this is a talented group of actors who communicate insight, intelligence, and humor the audience members aren't mind readers and the filmmakers can't just assume people will get it. That is unless you read the book then maybe you do get it. Maybe the film’s biggest issue is the way Thackeray's biting satire has been softened to appeal to a more mainstream audience.

That appeal to the mainstream extends to the casting of Reese Witherspoon as Becky Sharp. Ms. Witherspoon is a terrific actress who has the perfect face to play Becky Sharp, with that devilish glint in her deep-set eyes and that hint of a snarl in her smile she evoked my vision of Becky. The problem is her star power and presence overwhelms the lesser-known cast members that surround her. In scenes where the film shoehorns in the subplots about Romola Garai's Amelia or Rhys Ifans as Dobbin we are left wondering where is Becky. Also to accommodate someone of Ms. Witherspoon's obvious likeability, many of Becky's sharp edges have been softened so as not to offend her fanbase.

The only cast member that is able to make a real impression outside of Ms. Witherspoon is Eileen Atkins as Miss Crawley, probably because she is the only character other than Becky allowed to employ Mr. Thackeray's wit. Other characters make strong impressions in the book but have no time to do so in this film and may hav been better off left on the cutting room floor. More focus on Becky and her plot would seem to be the only way to make this film work.

Ms. Nair nails the period in her direction and embellishes it with the Indian imagery that she is known for from her wonderful Bollywood movie Monsoon Wedding. Thackeray himself was born in India and includes a number of references to British military outposts in that country and how the culture was part of the zeitgeist of the time amongst British aristocrats. That zeitgeist is well captured in a scene that wasn't in the book, a dance scene in which Becky and other high society woman perform a traditional Indian dance for the King of England. For a film budgeted at a mere 35 Million dollars this a lavish production.

The crux of the problem with Vanity Fair is a war between the filmmakers and the producers with Ms. Nair and the creative team looking to do a faithful adaptation and producers fighting to make the film more commercial. The many compromises made along the way, run time, casting amongst others, are obvious and distracting. The films ending is definitely a victim of these compromises as it comes completely out of left field and depends on one credibility testing bit of luck and timing.

Vanity Fair was supposed to signal the beginning of the Oscar campaign season. However when the film missed its original fall 2003 opening and was dropped into the first week of September, many in-the-know Academy watchers threw up red flags. Our suspicions were correct, Vanity Fair is unlikely to challenge for any of the major awards at the end of the year. Compromise, it seems, is not always a good thing. 

Movie Review: The Young Victoria

The Young Victoria (2009) 

Directed by Jean Marc Vallee 

Written by Julian Fellowes 

Starring Emily Blunt, Paul Bettany, Rupert Friend, Miranda Richardson, Jim Broadbent

Release Date December 18th, 2009

Published January 6th, 2010 

"Queen Victoria, one of our more frumpy Queens. They're all frumpy aren't they? Because it's a bad idea when cousins marry." Eddie Izzard "Dressed to Kill"

That quote was all I could think when I sat to watch The Young Victoria. Eddie Izzard's pointedly funny takedown of royal lineage threatened, early on, to affect my ability to enjoy this take on Queen Victoria's rise to power. What a welcome surprise it was then that star Emily Blunt made me forget all about Mr. Izzard, at least till the film was over, and with the great aid of an exceptional script by Oscar winner Julian Fellowes, made me love this movie.

The Young Victoria tells the story of Queen Victoria from the time just before she became Queen through her struggle with parliament and marriage to Prince Albert (Rupert Friend). We learn that as a young woman Victoria was kept from the world at large by her dour mother, the Duchess of Kent (Miranda Richardson) and her mother's consort Sir John Conroy (Mark Strong).

Both pressured the teenage heir to King William's (Jim Broadbent) throne to make them her Royal Regent, essentially ceding them the power over the monarchy. She refused, meanwhile the King himself conspired to win her favor with the help of the Prime Minister, Lord Melbourne (Paul Bettany), and the King's brother in law, and the ruler of Belgium, King Leopold (Thomas Kretschmann) maneuvered to move his bloodline into power through his nephew Albert.

For his part, Albert proved to be more than just another pawn in another power play. Over the course of Victoria's rise to power he is a trusted friend, confidante and eventually a husband and lover. It is in this relationship between Emily Blunt’s precocious yet savvy Victoria and Friend's stolid yet loving Albert that The Young Victoria gets it's romantic drive.

Emily Blunt is a powerhouse in The Young Victoria. Sure, she looks nothing like what is known of Victoria, ('one of our more frumpy Queens') but as she has told reviewers, you want realistic, watch the history channel. This is a Victoria for pop culture consumption and as such it works. Blunt's Victoria is sexy and smart, winsome and powerful. 

Ms. Blunt has remarkable chemistry not just with Mr. Friend, who is only just her equal, but also with the exceptionally cunning Paul Bettany and the always welcome Jim Broadbent, in a terrific cameo. The rest of the cast, minus the Snidely Whiplash-esque Mark Strong as the villain of the piece, is uniformly excellent. 

Adding to the power of Ms. Blunt's performance is an exceptionally smart, witty and concise script by Oscar winner Julian Fellowes. Mr. Fellowes takes a sprawling story of high court conspirators boils them down to their essences and keeps the audience in firm grasp of the various plots, machinations and maneuvers going on around our Victoria all while creating a hot house atmosphere of Victorian Era intrigue. 

So often period pieces like The Young Victoria can seem like inaccessible museum pieces all stuffy and puffed up. Fellowes and director Jean Marc Vallee deftly introduce a little soapy daytime drama into the mix without losing their air of cinematic importance. This is high minded drama but with a sense of the modern culture, hence the choice of a sexy Queen and lithesome, Edward Cullen-esque, leading man. 

The Young Victoria is tart and smart and features a star-making performance from Emily Blunt who may be more of a contender for Best Actress than many think. This is just the kind of glorious underdog of a performance that arrives on Oscar night to upset the apple cart of Oscar expectations. Here's hoping that Mr. Fellowes' scripting doesn't go unnoticed on Oscar night as well.

Movie Review The Damned United

The Damned United (2009) 

Directed by Tom Hooper

Written by Peter Morgan

Starring Michael Sheen, Timothy Spall, Colm Meaney, Jim Broadbent

Release Date March 27th, 2009 

Published November 14th, 2009

Michael Sheen has a knack for playing modern historic Englishmen. He rose to stardom playing former British Prime Minister Tony Blair three times. He gained massive acclaim playing flashy TV presenter David Frost in the Oscar nominee Frost/Nixon. For his latest English icon Sheen tackles an English football legend.

Brian Clough's career as the manager of a soccer club almost went down in infamy. He was the manager of England's number 1 soccer club Leeds United for only 44 days. The story of how he got there and what he did to blow the gig is one of the most bizarre and humiliating stories in the history of soccer.

In 1968 Brian Clough was the manager of a small, 3rd Division soccer club in Derby. His team has just gotten a huge break, they will host a game against the number one club in all of England, Leeds United and Brian plans to host their legendary manager Don Revie. Things do not go as planned. Leeds humiliates Derby, with a little cheating and a lot of talent, and Don Revie blows off Clough completely.

Find my full length review at Cleats.Media

Movie Review Paddington

Paddington (2014)

Directed by Paul King

Written by Paul King 

Starring Hugh Bonneville, Sally Hawkins, Julie Walters, Jim Broadbent, Peter Capaldi

Release Date November 24th, 2014

Published November 23rd, 2014 

The trailer for “Paddington” is among the worst I have seen in some time. Based on the trailer one would not be incorrect in the assumption that “Paddington” will be another in a series of insulting takes on beloved children’s properties such as “The Chipmunks,” or “The Smurfs.” The trailer features gross out humor, bad slapstick and, worst of all, not one, single, solitary laugh.

That was just the first trailer. The second trailer only seemed to pile the dirt higher on the film’s grave. The follow up trailer introduced Nicole Kidman as the film’s villain, a taxidermist determined to make Paddington the next prize in her museum collection. Ms. Kidman’s career has been on a steady decline for some time now and her status, plus the general awfulness of both trailers seemed to signal doom for “Paddington.”

So, imagine my surprise when upon seeing “Paddington” I did not find a steaming pile of Smurf like offal. Imagine, in fact, expectations so lowered by awful marketing that I found myself delighted by “Paddington.”  Yes, the lowered expectations helped, but truly “Paddington” is really quite unexpectedly good.

“Paddington” features the voice of Ben Whishaw as the titular bear, a rare breed from deepest, darkest Peru who learned to talk from his grandparents who were visited by an Englishman in some timeless realm. The Englishman invited the bears to come visit him in England any time and when poachers begin poking around the forest, Paddington is sent off to England for safe keeping.

During World War II as London was besieged by German bombers, children were evacuated from the city. Some of the children were orphaned by the bombings and to give them a new life in a new town they were often given only a cardboard sign around their neck asking that someone please take care of them. Knowing this story, Paddington is given a similar sign upon his arrival in London.

Found by the Brown family, including mother Mary Brown (Sally Hawkins), father Henry Brown (Downton Abbey’s Hugh Bonneville) and their two children, Judy (Madeline Harris) and Jonathan (Samuel Joslin), Paddington quickly finds a new home while also beginning his search for the Englishman who once invited his family to England.

A rather convoluted backstory introduces Nicole Kidman as Millicent, the film’s villainous Taxidermist. That the role is not a complete embarrassment to the one time box office star and Academy Award Winner is something of a triumph. You can sense from the beginning that this is a movie Kidman made so her children could see her and yet the compromise somehow doesn’t harm the performance. Kidman hams it up to surprisingly good effect in “Paddington.”

First time feature director Paul King makes “Paddington” work by creating a very simple, pleasant tone. The film is gentle and sweet and, aside from the abysmal bathroom sequence seen in the trailer, avoids being simpleminded and pandering. Smartly no effort is made to make Paddington hip or modern, the film exists in a time warp, it’s very own universe with familiar rules, save for the fact that bears can talk.

Aside from the bathroom scene from the trailer, the fact that no one in England finds a talking bear odd is the film’s biggest flaw. I hate it when a movie makes the fantastic seem common place. Aliens, superheroes, and talking bears are something to marvel at if they’ve never been seen before. Avoiding how unusual a talking bear is plays like a joke that only the filmmakers found funny.

I generally don’t care for movies that are described as ‘Gentle’ or ‘Pleasant’ but I didn’t mind it so much in “Paddington.” Something about the plushy “Paddington” invites ‘Gentle’ and welcomes ‘Pleasant.’ Had the marketing campaign played up the gentle and pleasant aspects of “Paddington” rather than the one, outlying scene of misguided antics, I might have even more appreciation for “Paddington.”

Movie Review: Around the World in 80 Days

Around the World in 80 Days (2004) 

Directed by Frank Coraci

Written by David Titcher 

Starring Jackie Chan, Steve Coogan, Cecile de France, Jim Broadbent, Arnold Schwarzenegger

Release Date June 16th, 2004 

Published June 15th, 2004 

History can be unkind to a movie. Take Mike Todd's immense vanity production 1956's Around The World In 80 Days. The film was the most extravagant and expensive production of it's time and was awarded Best Picture, beating Giant and The Ten Commandments. However, ask most critics about the film and you get a different picture altogether. The film is a God-awful mess for the most part.

Still it's a well-known title and has the Jules Verne name to back it up and thus we have a remake on our hands. Sure, it doesn't have the extravagance of original film but it does have the charm the previous film lacked. And there is a lot to be said for charm.

Phileas Fogg (Steve Coogan) is not one of those “head in the clouds” types and he's not a dreamer. He's just a scientist with faith in man's ability to accomplish any task. With his sometimes-unusual inventions, he pushes the boundaries of known human limits and pushes the patience of Britain's club of top scientists, led by Lord Kelvin (Jim Broadbent). Fogg's boundless imagination has yet to invent anything that impresses Lord Kelvin. In fact, Kelvin does all he can to prevent Fogg from becoming a full-fledged member of the club.

It is fate then that Fogg should meet a would-be thief who calls himself Passepartout (Jackie Chan), which is French-Chinese or so he explains. Passepartout, unknown to Fogg, has just robbed the bank of England but it's not what you think. Passepartout was merely retrieving an ancient artifact that was stolen from his village by the vial General Fang (Karen Mok) and sold to Lord Kelvin. While evading the police, Passepartout hides out at Fogg's mansion pretending to be a valet sent over by a service. It is Passepartout who hatches the 80 days bet as a way of getting Fogg to transport him back to China to return the artifact called The Jade Buddha.

The wager is thus: if Fogg can circumnavigate the globe in less than 80 days then Lord Kelvin will step down and name Fogg head of the Royal Academy of Science. However, if Fogg fails he must never invent again. With the wager in place we are off on a wild ride around the world with Passepartout being chased by the Chinese army of General Fang and both being pursued by the bumbling, Brit Inspector Fix (Ewan Bremner).

The guys aren't alone though. In France, they are joined by a sexy French painter Monique La Roche (Cecille De France) who basically exists as a function of the plot. After all what adventure movie doesn't have a love interest? It's in the movie rulebook so she's in the movie. It helps that she is easy on the eyes and quick with her spirited wit. Monique has an immediate attraction to Phileas who’s somewhat clueless, again, as the plot would have it.

Okay, we are not breaking new ground here and not just because this is a remake. There are a number of contrivances and shortcuts. This was after all directed by Adam Sandler's in house director Frank Coraci, so what else would you expect?

Still, the film does have a joyous spirit to it. It's funny and at times even exciting, especially Jackie Chan who has never been better. Some have said that Jackie Chan has lost a step but I didn't notice. If he's being helped by computers, wires or stunt doubles, it's well covered up and his stunt choreography is as good as it's ever been. Keep an eye out for his bench fighting scene against General Fang's men and the Statue of Liberty fight, two terrific, exciting fight scenes. Chan can also mug with the best of them and here he takes on an almost silent movie hero vibe as his face contorts into all sorts of exaggerated emotions. His facial expressions make up for his still nearly unintelligible accent.

Sadly, the wonderful Steve Coogan who was so memorable in 24 Hour Party People never really comes to life in this film. Coogan's Phileas Fogg is entirely too straight-laced and uptight to be interesting. His main emotions stem from his constant need to keep track of time. The rare scenes where he does spark are the romantic moments with the lovely Cecille De France, who has enough energy and spark for the both of them. She looks as if the French have cloned Brittany Murphy and given her an accent, and like Murphy, it's her boundless spirit that makes her so sexy.

As a family movie, Around The World in 80 Days will try the patience of young children with it's few dead spots. However, once Chan has some butts to kick the kids and some of the parents will be very entertained. Try and forget the original film and especially forget Jules Verne who deserves better and has yet to see his work fully realized onscreen. Around The World in 80 Days is not for purists or nitpickers, it is simply a brainlessly entertaining piece of pop candy.

Movie Review Hot Fuzz

Hot Fuzz (2007) 

Directed by Edgar Wright 

Written by Edgar Wright, Simon Pegg

Starring Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Timothy Dalton, Cate Blanchett, Jim Broadbent 

Release Date April 20th, 2007 

Published April 19th, 2007 

The buzz has been building for months around the action comedy Hot Fuzz. It comes from the creators of the cult hit Shaun Of the Dead, a film that was both a send up of classic zombie flicks and a reinvention. Now the Shaun team takes aim at the classically American action movie. With nods toward Point Break, Bad Boys 2 and even a glance at Chinatown, Hot Fuzz fires bullets in many different directions, blows up any number of locales and is often quite funny while doing it.

If it were just about 30 minutes shorter, Hot Fuzz would be a very cool movie.

Nicolas Angel (Simon Pegg) is the best cop in London. His arrest rate is 400 percent higher than every other cop in the city and he is making the other cops look bad. In order to lower the bar for the rest of London's finest, Nicolas is given a transfer. Sent to the tiny village of Sandford, the big city cop finds himself in the place known as the safest village in all of England.

Left busting underage drinkers and tracking down a swan on the loose on mainstreet, Nicolas is bored to tears. Lucky for him, the exciting stuff is just about to begin. As the town prepares for the annual village of the year contest a strange series of accidents kills off some of the more troublesome residents of Sandford and Nicolas begins to wonder if all of these accidents could really be just a coincidence.

That is the set up to a story that takes absolutely forever to really get going. Written and directed by Edgar Wright, with his team from Shaun Of The Dead, Hot Fuzz tries to have it both ways and be taken seriously in an action thriller vein and be funny in sending up American action cliches. The tone of the film is fuzzy, even employing some horror film style violence among the mystery and action elements, and this causes the film to drag through the first 90 minutes or so.

Simon Pegg never really looks like an action hero but throughout Hot Fuzz, in what I'm sure was meant as parody, Pegg becomes so taciturn and earnestly tough that he becomes nearly convincing. Pegg gets really into the role of a badass, by the book cop and his performance is yet another confused piece of satire in Hot Fuzz. Don't be mistaken, Pegg is often quite funny but the character is at times too convincing which undercuts the humor in many scenes.

The last half hour of Hot Fuzz nearly rescues the picture. Taking cues from Bad Boys 2, Point Break and Rambo, Hot Fuzz starts blowing up anything and everything, firing copious amounts of bullets and celebrating the goofball quipfests that are the hallmark of the 80's and 90's style American action movie. When the trailer says "from the guys who saw every action movie, ever made" they aren't kidding.

Though multiple homages to Point Break seem a little curious and out of date, fans of that Keanu Reeves-Patrick Swayze campfest will be rolling on the floor laughing. That film, for all its cheese-tastic goodness, did feature one of the best foot chases in any movie I've ever seen and Hot Fuzz provides a loving and hysterical send up of that scene.

Another great popcorn aspect of Hot Fuzz is the filmmaker's Where's Waldo approach to celebrity cameos. A pair of big name international stars, an Academy Award nominated actress and an Academy Award winning Director, are hidden in plain sight in Hot Fuzz. You may have to see the film more than once to catch both cameos.

As a movie geek myself I was looking forward to Hot Fuzz. I loved Shaun of the Dead and that film definitely showed Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright's brilliant talent for sending up conventions of genre. They are just slightly off the beat in Hot Fuzz. Taking themselves just a tad too seriously, the team behind Hot Fuzz manages to make a real action movie early on and then flex their parody skills at the very end. These are some big laughs but the more than 90 minutes it takes to get there are deathly dull at times.

Movie Review Gangs of New York

Gangs of New York (2002) 

Directed by Martin Scorsese 

Written by Jay Cocks, Steven Zaillian, Kenneth Lonergan 

Starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Daniel Day Lewis, Cameron Diaz, John C Reilly, Jim Broadbent 

Release Date December 20th, 2002 

Published December 18th, 2002 

The argument rages on as to who our greatest living director is. Certainly an argument can be made that there is no more popular and well known filmmaker than Steven Spielberg. The quality of Spielberg's work is impeccable. But when you talk about artistry in filmmaking and storytelling there is none more talented than Martin Scorsese. Though some may argue his work is too “East Coast,” that it lacks mainstream appeal and thus is not popular, the man' artistry is too great to deny. Scorsese's latest work, though again very “East Coast,” is nonetheless another work of stunning artistry.

Gangs Of New York is not just the story of its lead characters, Bill "The Butcher" Cutter (Daniel Day Lewis) and Amsterdam Vallon (Leonardo DiCaprio). It's also the story of our country and how it was forged in the blood and sweat of immigrants. It's a history that many don't like to reflect on. A history of incivility and murder, of prejudice and inhumanity. This is no wondrous tale of how Lincoln led the charge to freedom, it's far too honest to make a hero of anyone ,even a sacred cow like President Lincoln.

Gangs Of New York takes place on the fringe of the Civil War, in the ghetto known as Five Points where the Irish immigrants fleeing famine in their home country have established a foothold. Opposing Irish immigration is a group calling themselves The Natives led by Bill the Butcher. A vicious crime lord, The Butcher's hatred of the immigrants leads to a showdown in 1846 that would decide control of Five Points. Leading the immigrants is a man known as Priest Vallon (Liam Neeson). Though not a real Priest, he wears a collar and carries a staff with a cross on it which he uses as a weapon.

In this opening showdown Priest is killed by The Butcher, who claims control of Five Points. Witnessing the bloody carnage from the sidelines, young Amsterdam Vallon witnesses his father’s murder and vows revenge on The Butcher. Amsterdam is taken away from Five Points and sent to a prison school called Hell's Gate until he is of age. Years later Amsterdam returns to Five Points to claim his revenge.

Amsterdam is quick to find that the neighborhood has changed a lot and The Butcher is still in control. In fact he is now now more than just a vicious thug, The Butcher has made inroads in politics, buying the freedom of his syndicate through his relationship with New York's political leader Boss Tweed (Jim Broadbent). Killing The Butcher will not be easy, so Amsterdam schemes his way into The Butcher's inner circle with the help of a friend named Johnny (Henry Thomas). Once in close contact with the butcher however Amsterdam is nearly seduced by his charm and honor. 

There is no doubt that The Butcher is a cold blooded killer but he is also an honorable fighter who has, ever since the great gang battle of 1846, honored the memory of Amsterdam's father with a massive celebration. The butcher is unaware of Amsterdam's identity until Johnny, jealous of Amsterdam's relationship with a lovely pick pocket, Jenny Everdeane (Cameron Diaz), tells Bill the truth and nearly gets Amsterdam killed.

In a scene of incredible staging, Amsterdam makes an attempt on The Butcher's life during the celebration of his father’s death. He fails, but The Butcher, now aware of Amsterdam's true identity, shows mercy on Amsterdam and allows him to walk out, but not before scarring his face with a hot blade. This leads to the film’s climactic street fight between the immigrants and the natives. A combination of civility and brutality, which begins with a meeting between the gangs to decide on rules, weapons and a date and time for the fight.

How historically accurate is Gangs Of New York? Well like any Hollywood film, there will always be artistic license whether you like it or not. Scorsese has repeatedly stated his meaningful attempts at accuracy, which many see as the reason the film’s budget ballooned past the 100 million-dollar mark. Indeed the costumes and cobbled streets seem to fit what is known of the era. Not many history books outside the state of New York tell the story of the 1860's such as the draft riots which lead to bloody battles in the streets between New Yorkers and union soldiers. Indeed that actually happened whether we want to remember it or not. Similarly, people would like to forget the corruption and violence of 5 Points and the Gangs of New York. 

History lesson or not, Gangs Of New York is an enthralling tale told by a master storyteller. Scorsese is in complete control and the passion he clearly has for this material, which he has wanted to film for 20 plus years, is expressed remarkably on the screen. The Oscar buzz surrounding the performance of Daniel Day Lewis is more than justified. Lewis' Butcher is a seductive villain, charming and cunning. Even Amsterdam, who has for years thought only of killing him, is briefly seduced by him because despite his evil, he has honor and lives by a code of the streets that is long gone.

But while everyone praises Daniel Day Lewis these days, I would like to call attention to DiCaprio who makes a real statement in this film. DiCaprio has grown up and though he still carries many teenybopper fans who swoon at his every word, we critics can no longer write him off as a guy who trades on his good looks. In Gangs Of New York, DiCaprio steps up to the big time and now must be taken seriously as an actor of depth.

Gangs Of New York is epic filmmaking in every way possible. It has scope and scale but not at the expense of character development and scripting. The production value and performances and script all come together under the craftsmanly eye of Scorsese who makes yet another masterpiece. If Scorsese doesn't win best director this time around there is something very wrong with the world. Gangs Of New York is one of the best films of the year.