Review of Once Upon a Time in America (1984) by Andrew S — 03 Apr 2011

Once Upon A Time In America is no Godfather. But I think that's an unfair comparison in the first place. Sure, they have some similarities. They both explore the theme loyalty, and portray characters testing their loyalties to each other in the midst of tension regarding business. However, other than that, they really don't have much in common.

While The Godfather, and many other gangster films, explores the inside of a crime organization, Once Upon A Time In America is more of an emotionally driven film. The characters in this film are not defined by their actions. We don't really look at them as gangsters. Instead, we see them as young men who've grown up a tough life together, and have bonded through their experiences.

In case you don't know what it's about, the film is a show the lives of four Jewish boys and their rise in the New York mafia. It's not always clear what their involvement is, but like I said, that's beside the point. We follow them from their youth in the 1920's, to their young adult years, when three of them are killed. That's not a spoiler by the way. Those details are known from the beginning. We follow the one who survives (Robert De Niro) all the way to the 1960's.

Throughout the film, the men do some horrible actions. Normally it would be hard to care for these characters, but because we understand where they come from and understand the bond they share, we can have some sympathy for them. The scenes that show the men in their teens are some of the best moments in the movie, and the child actors give some of the best child performances I've ever seen.

This isn't the most incredible performance by De Niro, but he gives the movie everything it needed. Honestly, as much a good performance is important to a movie, this one is so well made that I think it would appeal to our emotions regardless of the performance. Still, it's always great when a movie has an actor as amazing as Robert De Niro. James Woods is also great by the way.

Don't be intimidated by the almost 4 hour running time. Thanks to the beautiful direction of Sergio Leone, this film flows right by, and even leaves you wanting more. There are even something I wish they had explored even more, such as the relationship between James Woods character and his girlfriend. I don't mean to criticize the film for that though. After all, Leone originally wanted to release this film in two three-hour parts, so he's obviously not to blame.

As far as ranking the best Gangster films, I think I could think of a handful of films to put ahead of this one. However, this may be one of the most emotionally haunting and powerful films ever made.