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Sep 06, 2013Monolith rated this title 4.5 out of 5 stars
After recently struggling through Bernardo Bertolucci's 5¼ hour 1976 film, "Novecento", also with De Niro, I'm beginning to wonder why I'm putting myself through these marathons, and what possessed these Italian filmmakers to believe this much time was required to get their story told. This was Sergio Leone's last major film, and I'm a big fan of his Spaghetti Westerns, but I wasn't entirely enthusiastic at certain times sitting through this one. He could've easily shaved some time off. And by that, I don't mean the butchered nonlinear television version, which I've seen several times over the years. I found the first half depicting them as young street urchins boring and just plain unrealistic. Leone's frequent composer Ennio Morricone's score was a wee bit melodramatic, and the recurring pan flute melody was irritating. The second half with the boys as men developed some steam with an actual plot... but the sporadic time travel felt disconnected, even though, as I've said, I'm familiar with the story. And one last complaint -- I didn't really like the ending. Noodles' final choice w/ 'Mr. Bailey' was understandable, and mature, but the last shot with him grinning in the opium den was a strange way to leave things. I did enjoy the cast very much, (Woods, De Niro, etc.) however, in their respective roles. Burt Young is underrated; the man is perfect as a stereotypical, uncouth, New York mobster, feeding his face with whatever; glaring if his toes have been stepped on. Elizabeth McGovern and Jennifer Connelly were gorgeous thirty years ago, and still. Joe Pesci and Danny Aiello (as Police Chief Aiello... very original!) weren't taken advantage of fully. It's a shame Sergio Leone died so young; leaving behind so few films as his legacy. This isn't my favorite of the man's repertoire, but it is without question absolutely worth viewing, at least once.