In Civil-War Era New York City, a young man is befriended by the local crime boss who killed his father sixteen years prior.

A long awaited picture and Scorsese's passion; Gangs of New York lives up to much of its hype. Scorsese's direction is first rate. Charactarizations and visual appeal run high. Daniel Day-Lewis gives another spectular performance as "The Butcher", DiCaprio also is a nice fit here. Cameron Diaz' character is slightly off center, she isn't entirely needed here, maybe if the romance end of the story were given a little more attention, I'd apprecite her more.

Fine character development, a really nice style and on-target dialogue lift the film up, as its washed-out palette pulls it back to Earth.

Not a perfect film by any account, but it does approach near-perfect status.

Directed by Martin Scorsese.