Just when I thought James Cagney's "top of the world, ma!" performance in WHITE HEAT was the definitive portrait of a psychopathic hood, along comes BUGSY with Warren Beatty as an even more insane, over-the-top hoodlum just as cold blooded (possibly more so) than Cagney's Cody Jarrett.
Beatty is just as menacing and handy with a gun as Cagney ever was, and what's more he's got a great script to back him up. I'm not and never have been a Beatty fan, but if the man had to win an Oscar for anything, I'd say give it to him for BUGSY, the nickname Benjamin Siegel hated anyone to use.
How true all the details are I don't know. I'll have to do a background check on Bugsy when I finish this review, but the movie is filled with what appears to be accurate period detail throughout with some great sets and art direction. Ironically, it only received a couple of honors in the technical categories although honored with many nominations.
ANNETTE BENING matches Beatty every step of the way with a mesmerizing performance as Virginia Hill, the woman he has a huge obsession for. The jealousy angle is played up with some vivid scenes between Beatty and Bening that director Barry Levinson controls with just the right amount of passion.
BEN KINGSLEY, ELLIOT GOULD (quite effective in an overlooked role as an ill-fated dumb gangster) and HARVEY KEITEL all stand out in solid supporting roles. So does JOE MANTEGNA (as George Raft), playing his role with smooth style reminiscent of Raft--and in one of the film's more interesting moments seen doing a scene from "Manpower" with an actress impersonating Marlene Dietrich.
The use of '40s background music ("Accentuate the Positive" and many others) is especially well handled and sets the mood for a number of montages and glimpses of the Las Vegas scene during that period. Whether or not Beatty got his inspiration for building a gambling casino in the middle of the desert is accurate or not, the story is a gripping one, taking unexpected twists and turns as it moves toward its grim conclusion.
Summing up: Overtaken at the Oscars by "Silence of the Lambs," it's a film well worth seeking out if you missed it the first time, as I did.
Beatty is just as menacing and handy with a gun as Cagney ever was, and what's more he's got a great script to back him up. I'm not and never have been a Beatty fan, but if the man had to win an Oscar for anything, I'd say give it to him for BUGSY, the nickname Benjamin Siegel hated anyone to use.
How true all the details are I don't know. I'll have to do a background check on Bugsy when I finish this review, but the movie is filled with what appears to be accurate period detail throughout with some great sets and art direction. Ironically, it only received a couple of honors in the technical categories although honored with many nominations.
ANNETTE BENING matches Beatty every step of the way with a mesmerizing performance as Virginia Hill, the woman he has a huge obsession for. The jealousy angle is played up with some vivid scenes between Beatty and Bening that director Barry Levinson controls with just the right amount of passion.
BEN KINGSLEY, ELLIOT GOULD (quite effective in an overlooked role as an ill-fated dumb gangster) and HARVEY KEITEL all stand out in solid supporting roles. So does JOE MANTEGNA (as George Raft), playing his role with smooth style reminiscent of Raft--and in one of the film's more interesting moments seen doing a scene from "Manpower" with an actress impersonating Marlene Dietrich.
The use of '40s background music ("Accentuate the Positive" and many others) is especially well handled and sets the mood for a number of montages and glimpses of the Las Vegas scene during that period. Whether or not Beatty got his inspiration for building a gambling casino in the middle of the desert is accurate or not, the story is a gripping one, taking unexpected twists and turns as it moves toward its grim conclusion.
Summing up: Overtaken at the Oscars by "Silence of the Lambs," it's a film well worth seeking out if you missed it the first time, as I did.