Bugsy (1991)

Bugsy: Directed by Barry Levinson. With Warren Beatty, Annette Bening, Harvey Keitel, Ben Kingsley. The story of how Benjamin “Bugsy” Siegel started Las Vegas.

“Bugsy is a typical gangster/mob movie; it has got the wise guys, the families, the family problems, and a tragic flaw in the protagonist. It is also 2 1/2 hours long, which you should expect with any biopic anyway, but I think it can get a little tedious in some areas. First off, Warren Beatty is brilliant, and there is no question in my mind that it was anything less than perfection. His supporting castu0026#39;s performances were excellent as well including those of Harvey Keitel, Ben Kingsley, and Annette Bening. The film probably deserved all the Oscar nominations it received, but, with the exceptions of Beattyu0026#39;s performance and a couple technical awards, nothing deserved the Oscar. However, I do not want to give a bad impression of this film because it does deserve some approbation.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe story of Bugsy Siegel is indeed a true story. Siegel was a New York Jewish gangster, who moved out to L.A., and one thing led to another and resulted in Bugsy building the Flamingo hotel and casino in the middle of the desert. This is the man who put Las Vegas on the map. Bugsy (by the way, donu0026#39;t call him Bugsy to face) is very insane. Also, Kingsleyu0026#39;s character gets to introduce Bugsyu0026#39;s tragic flaw: he doesnu0026#39;t u0026quot;respectu0026quot; money. This combination makes one very unique mobster that I can not compare to any other. Just wait for the scene relating to dogs and pigs; I donu0026#39;t want to reveal anymore because this is where Beatty shines. u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eVirginia Hill (Bening) is a cookie cutter actress going steady with one of Siegelu0026#39;s or somebody elseu0026#39;s soldiers. Bugsy starts to look fondly on her, and thus starts the romance. There should be no surprise whatsoever since theyu0026#39;re married in real life, but Beatty and Bening do have great chemistry on screen. Their relationship brings out a lot of fun in the film. u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eAgain, Bugsy is a tragedy. I donu0026#39;t think thatu0026#39;s spoiling it since you can learn that somewhere on the Internet, but I do want to let you know what youu0026#39;re getting into. It is a very interesting story with a few laughs and some irony here and there. Barry Levinson made a well-constructed film that flows very nicely and only lacks where I assume the screenplay does. I would not say it is at the caliber of Goodfellas or The Godfather Trilogy, but, all in all, it is a pretty decent movie.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eI highly recommend that you definitely see it.”