Quote of the Week Review: Gangs of New York (2002)

By Thomas Broome-Jones

"I'm gonna teach you to speak English with this f***ing knife!"

I did warn you that the quotes would get harder following last week's! This week we have a pretty awesome quote from one of Martin Scorsese's lesser known films of the 2000s (in comparison to The Aviator and The Departed), Gangs of new York. The film is all about 19th Century New York City and the conflict between the various gangs within the Five Points district, specifically the conflict between the Americans, the Irish and the police, with plenty of sub-divisions internally fighting with each other.

Bill "The Butcher" (right) has become of my favourite film villains.

So, such a concept from Mr. Scorsese must be an undeniable masterpiece, right? Well, not exactly. Don't get me wrong, this is not a bad film, not bad at all, but I don't really see it as anything more than good. Daniel Day-Lewis is easily the strongest point (but when isn't he?), he plays Bill "The Butcher" Cutting, a gang leader with a proficiency in knives. Taking Leonardo DiCaprio under his wing we see their influence and relationship sore, but I won't give away any important plot details. Simply put, Day-Lewis is absolutely spell-binding as always, he really throws himself into the character and puts forth one of his finest performances with a truly authentic New York accent that he has totally perfected. The same can't be said for Leo, unfortunately, his Irish accent isn't BAD, per se, but his real voice slips through one too many times and I found his character to be pretty uninteresting in comparison to Day-Lewis.

The film seems to not be as entertaining when "The Butcher" isn't on screen as he easily has all of the best scenes, the narrative seems a little stiff with a lack of any real direction. I never felt like the film was making any particular comment on anything, it does address certain themes, chiefly racism and immigration issues. But the problem is that they're touched upon so lightly, it takes a back seat to action and doesn't take enough risks to really create a poignant message. Cameron Diaz is also in this film and I do genuinely rate her as an actress but the film focuses so heavily on her romance with Leo when what I really wanted to see was her relationship with Bill. The characters hardly ever talked to one another and yet there is this massive implication that something major went on between them. We only find out through trickles of information, we never get a scene of the two of them alone together to have a real discussion with real development. For a film with a 160 minute run-time it seems to want to focus more on love than actual development.

Definitely not as tight as other Scorsese films, Gangs of New York can really get uninteresting at points and you'll be begging for Daniel Day-Lewis to come back on-screen. But when he does, you'll be mesmerized by his ability, the film's worth watching just for him alone. I do recommend this film as it will entertain you, not to mention some of the set design is truly incredible, but don't be expecting Taxi Driver or Goodfellas. This isn't one of Scorsese's best. But if you're a fan of Marty, DDL and have almost 3 hours free in your day, it is worth your time, albeit just barely.

Thomas Broome-Jones is on Twitter, you can follow him @TBroomey.