Reviews

Excellent movie!!! I didn't know what to expect of this film, but I was pleasantly surprised by this one as a whole. I didn't know any of the actors who carried their roles no worse than De Niro or Brando and made this movie so good. The music was brilliant: from "Nessun Dorma"(Puccini) to "I go to sleep" (Pretenders) and "Ballroom Blitz". The storyline is simple: a couple of street kids get thrown into jail. One of them, the Libanese, gets the idea to conquer Rome: to drugs, whores gambling, etc. They succeed in taking over the entire underworld, but it doesn't go as smoothly as it may sound. The movie lasts about two and a half hours, but there is never a dull moment. In the end, they can't keep it up. This movie is full of suspense, and may easily call itself the 21century-italian-godfather: a must-see film with top acting, superb music and great to watch.

Of course in those days, method acting wasn't as obvious as it is now. Gaining and losing a few pounds nowadays with a personal trainer? Easy! Ask Renee Zelweger. And although I am not trying to compare her to the great De Niro, I was just making a point. This movie to me missed stamina and was extremely dull, to say the least. Not even the combination between De Niro and Scorsese could make this flimsy story into a masterpiece. Filming this movie in black and white does not make it remotely as good as the Elephant man which was shot in the same year. But then, it is only my humble opinion that this movie is grossly overrated...