Gangs of New York

This epic film, after having been nominated for many Academy Awards Oscars, has been elevated to a classic. Set in the 19th century, a time period which I believe to have made for horrible moveis, this is somewhat a movei about gangs, but also about the rise of a new country called America, and the struggles that ordinary citizens go through.. As a boy, Amsterdam, who is in fact Leonardo DiCaprio, had witnessed the slaying of his father by a rival gang leader, Bill "The Butcher" Poole, played by Daniel Day-Lewis, who also won a Screen Actors Guild Award on Sunday for this film. As he matures, he sets of to the task of exacting revenge, with the help of a pickpocket friend, Jenny Everdeane. As part of his plot, he joins the gang of his enemy, and slowly moves up in rank, and respect. As he gains the authority and the friendship of Mr. Poole, he starts to realize that the mission he has set himself to is becoming impossible, as not only is the danger of murder a barrier, but so is himself. This film won the Golden Globe's Best Director ward, as well as the Best Actor award from the British Academy Film Awards. Richard Roeper comments, "Martin Scorseses brilliant epic should finally bring him the Best Director Academy Award he's had coming for nearly 30 years." I don't know about that, but I give it a rating of: