Plot

Richard Dreyfuss stars in this compelling, fact-based movie about notorious mobster Meyer Lansky, chronicling his beginnings as a Jewish immigrant to his successful career in gambling, bootlegging and racketeering--and eventually murder.

This is the telling of the life of organized crime boss, Meyer Lansky, as remembered by him as a very old man who is moving about the world looking for some country that will take him in since the US courts have put out an extradition order for him to stand trial. It tells of a young man growing up in the Jewish ghettos of America's big cities at the turn of the century and of his bright intelligence which he used for moving into crime. "I'm only a gambler," he claimed, "just like most all Americans." When asked by a reporter to comment on the killings that occurred under his leadership he declined, thereby making this film's thrust that of personalities and relationships rather than of acts of violence or the workings of corrupt deeds.—BOB STEBBINS <stebinsbob@aol.com>

Biopic of the infamous gangster who is widely attributed with organizing the mafia into a national crime organization in the USA. The Lansky family migrated to the US when he was only 8 years old and by the time he was a teenager, he developed an interest in gambling and saw the potential profit. With his good friend Ben Siegel providing the muscle, he graduated from back alley games to a small gambling den. Along with a new partner, Charles Luciano, the three men kill two major bosses and establish themselves as major gangsters. Lansky further organizes the US mafia and became the major force behind gambling in Havana. In old age, he tried to establish residence in Israel but was forced to return to the US to face prosecution.—garykmcd

Bio-pic of mob boss Meyer Lansky explores his childhood, including his friendship with Bugsy Siegel, their venture into the formation of Las Vegas, and his subsequent attempt to organize pre-Castro Cuba as a vacation resort.—David Fowler