sommerjd

This is a fun movie for about 2 hours, but unfortunately it goes on for another half hour. The ending is entirely unsatisfying. But let's talk about the acting--Nicholson is mesmerizing as always. I don't know that his character makes a whole lot of sense, but you can't take your eyes off him when he's on screen. Alec Baldwin shines in a small part as a captain. Matt Damon is serviceable enough, but then he doesn't really have much range as an actor anyway, does he? The mystery here is the praise being heaped on Mark Wahlberg who is not only out of control, screaming every line, but often indecipherable. Bad role, big ham.

But the movie belongs to Leonardo Dicaprio. He's just great, well-deserving of any awards he receives. The whole point of watching the entire film is to find out what happens to his character, thanks to his emotionally-wrenching performance.

A big bounceback for him from the nightmare that was "Gangs of New York." For Scorcese, at least this isn't a debacle like that one. Thankfully no sign of Daniel Day-Lewis's ridiculous mustache (I do believe it's now starring on "My Name Is Earl," pasted on Jason Lee's face.)

I've read all the rave reviews here and am impressed with the imagination of those who loved this film. I can't say that I found much to recommend it. The Leonard Cohen sound track is not only excessively heavy-handed but dreary beyond measure. The film looks authentic enough, but something's got to happen for it to work, and nothing much does: a cursory plot (not a real problem for me), not much character development, nothing thematically. It just slogs along. Flawed as it is, Cimino's "Heaven's Gate" has some moments of genuine wonder and is a film I'd sooner watch again. For a brilliant reconception of the West, HBO's "Deadwood" is much superior to "McCabe."