Written by / 7/12/2012 / No comments / , , , ,

WARREN BEATTY IS BUGSY

year: 1991 cast: Warren Beatty, Annette Bening, Harvey Keitel, Ben Kingsley, Elliott Gould rating: ***1/2
Warren Beatty likes to surround himself with great actors, and with Ben Kingsly as Meyer Lansky and Harvey Keitel as Mickey Cohen he gets his wish: but Beatty’s Bugsy Siegel not only steals this particular show but completely owns it...

At least for the first half – the better part of an entertaining gangster biopic directed by Barry Levinson with lavish production, taking us back to the 1940’s when Siegel traveled from New York to Hollywood. The best scenes have Bugsy (but never call him that) taking over tinsel town with bullheaded gusto, buying a mansion and car like shopping at a yard sale – and then meeting actress Virginia Hill who soon becomes his moll, then Achilles’ heel.

The future Mrs. Beatty does a good job as the temperamental moll, but scenes where Bugsy thinks she’s sleeping (or has slept) with every man around borrows too heavily from RAGING BULL and gets in the way of the real story: Siegel’s vision of a giant casino in the middle of the Nevada desert, in a town called Las Vegas, as he spends too much mafia money on a gamble that might not work. Beatty plays the role with delightful energy yet he’s surprisingly formidable too... especially when dealing with people that owe. It's a shame the searing romantic melodrama gets in the way of the rough stuff.
Share This Post :
Tags : , , , ,

No comments:

Post a Comment

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.

All Time Popular

Featured Post

PARENTHETICAL ANALYSIS OF MICHAEL WINNER'S 'THE MECHANIC'

Charles Bronson in Michael Winner's THE MECHANIC from 1974 Rating: **** By the time professional hit man Arthur Bishop, skillfully under...

WWW.CULTFILMFREAKS.COM

WWW.CULTFILMFREAKS.COM
Movie Reviews, Interviews, Articles and Pop Culture from White Heat to Blue City

RIP ACTOR KEN HUTCHISON

TOTAL HITS

Popular Trending

FOUNDED BY JAMES M. TATE

FOUNDED BY JAMES M. TATE
RANDOM QUOTE: "Les, you placed your bets...Worrying doesn't win horse races." Charles Bronson, The Stone Killer

FILM NOIR & NEO NOIR CRIME

FAVORITES SHORTLIST

1)OTLEY 2)HELL IS A CITY 3)ROBBERY 4)THE FEARMAKERS 5)CANYON PASSAGE 6)VIOLENT SATURDAY 7)HOT CARS 8)JUNGLE STREET 9)THE CROWDED SKY 10)THE ROARING TWENTIES 11) ANATOMY OF A MURDER 12)SHARKS' TREASURE 13)SWEENEY TWO 14)RAIDERS FROM BENEATH THE SEA 15)HARDCORE 16)THE SYSTEM 17)WHITE HEAT 18)AL CAPONE 19)HIDDEN FEAR 20)FALLEN ANGEL 21)NIGHT CREATURES 22)CURSE OF THE DEMON 23)ASH WEDNESDAY 24)THE BREAK 25)AIR PATROL 26)JOURNEY INTO FEAR 27)EASY LIVING 28)WILLIAM CONRAD'S BRAINSTORM 29)FRENZY 30)THE MAN FROM LARAMIE 1)DANA ANDREWS 2)JAMES CAGNEY 3)STANLEY BAKER 4)MARLON BRANDO 5)WILLIAM LUCAS 1)VIRGINIA MAYO 2)SUE LYON 3)GENE TIERNEY 4)MERRY ANDERS 5)FAYE DUNAWAY DIRECTORS 1)JACQUES TOURNEUR 2)RICHARD FLEISCHER 3)STANLEY KUBRICK 4)ORSON WELLES 5)OTTO PREMINGER 6)JOHN LANDIS 7)JOHN GUILLERMAN 8)VAL GUEST 9)JOHN CARPENTER 10)MICHAEL WINNER

BRITISH NEW WAVE CINEMA

RARITIES AND EXPLOITATION

HAMMER HORROR & THRILLER

Popular This Month

CHARLES BRONSON CINEMA

CINEMA OF DANA ANDREWS

WESTERN GENRE REVIEWS

PEAKING INTO THE SIXTIES

KICKING IN THE EIGHTIES

TALES AND REFLECTIONS

REVVING THE SEVENTIES

FOR HORROR MOVIE REVIEWS

Most Popular Last Year

RETURN TO THE HOMEPAGE