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starring: Robert De Niro, James Woods directed by: Sergio Leone

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Customer Reviews
Average Rating: Rating: - Not a gangster movie -- something much more special... ...a meditation on time, memory, and the nature of cinema itself. Imagine a gangster film written by Proust and directed by Max Ophuls. Leone devoted 15 years of his life to this project; when it was all over (betrayed by America itself, just like Noodles), it pretty much killed him. There are rumors that Leone's intial cut, 40-50 minutes shorter than the "long" (227 min.) version released in Europe, is being restored. I hope and pray this is true. Christopher Frayling's excellent biography of Leone outlines the missing footage -- some violence, and a lot of stuff from the "1968" sections of the movie -- more of Noodles enountering faces from his past, particularly Tuesday Weld and Treat Williams. I always found that the 1968 material seemed rushed and choppy -- hopefully this footage will remedy that and turn "Once Upon A Time In America" into the masterpiece it undoubtedly is. Rating: - A Betrayal Epic That Happens To Be A Gangster Film In making a film about the effects of guilt and betrayal both real and imagined, Sergio Leone also made a film about the numbing poignancy of the passage of time. Towards the close of the film the sense of waste that infuses De Niro is so great that he can't even be angry, just crushed by heartbreaking sadness. The film is long, the plot is complex, and some elements of the story are rearranged into an emotional vs. a straight narrative order, but the overall effect is extraordinarily efficient; had the story been told without Leone's skillful time transitions and careful narrative choices, this could have been a very plodding six or eight hour movie. Plus, what a marvelous cast -- even the characters on the fringes of the film cry out to be explored (look at how much strange and painful emotional power Tuesday Weld manages to fit into her few key scenes). My only problems with the film are minor technical gaffs (the use of cold cream to try to unsucessfully age an obviously still very young Elizabeth McGovern, etc.), otherwise, this is simply a wonderful, powerful movie. The senses and emotions of the film will linger much longer than the story. Rating: - A little over rated... An epic tale of jewish kids in turn of the century new york who begin a life of petty crime that blossums into large scale organized crime. The movie is told using flasbacks beginning with an aging robert deniro as noodles arronson who relives the past from the days of his youth. This is a story about friendship and commraderie but director sergio leone never let's the film get too sentimental. These guys are very violent ruthless men and you never are allowed to forget that. In one important scene noodles rapes his childhood sweetheart the woman he claims to love. There are several key scenes in the movie that seem to get the point across. First these kids are doing small time stuff and eventuallly their crimes become a threat to the local toughs a gang run by a guy called bugsy. Noodles and his best pal max take a pretty good beating for their intrusion but they continue to work the area and the reprisals become much stronger. In a most important scene the youngest and smallest of the gang gets shot to death but noodles retaliates against the rival with a knife. This lands him in jail for some time and as the story moves to the next level we see an adult noodles leaving prison only to rejoin his pals who have now reached the big time. At this level the gang is bold enough to double cross the mafia on a jewel heist and take control of a major labor union but that is not enough for max who is planning a crime that dwarfs those exploits. You're crazy replies noodles to max' idea and which causes max to become angry and almost strike him. "Don't ever say i'm crazy" max said. Of course he was crazy. Noodles has the difficult decision to decide whether he'll support his friend or not. A decision that could mean life or death. Will noodles help his friends or will he double cross them to save his own skin. Noodles is ruthless but he is also practical and he frequently is at odds with max' emotional decisions. There are a few more twists and turns and some real surprises. This is a fine film with solid writing, acting and a realistic ambience. You do feel part of the life and times of the characters. The story line is solid though the flashback method can make it frustrating at times to follow. For that reason this is a good movie to own so you can see it several times in which you'll appreciate it more. The reason i think it's not quite worthy of 5 stars is because of the length. I have seen the film in both it's cut up length and the full. You simply can't watch it with half the scenes removed so the full length version is the only way. Still there is no need for the movie to be so long. Many scenes drag on without much purpose. Noodles in the mausoleum, noodles with his childhood sweetheart in the restaurant ect. As a result the movie doesn't move along fast enough getting too bogged down with insignificant details. Still a very fine film and one of the best from the 1980s. Certainly worth owning. .................socks

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