Once Upon a Time in America (1984)

An epic in duration and time portrayed, Once Upon a Time in America portrays the interactions between a quintet of gangsters and sets up a mystery that spans the decades. As distasteful as I find the glorification of children as low level gangsters, I enjoyed the clever and intriguing time transitions during the first part of the film and also the bonding and camaraderie of the characters as young boys. When they reach adulthood is where the story loses me, every action made by the characters is grosser than the last and the mystery unveils to an unsatisfying end. Robert De Niro and James Wood as the leaders of the bunch have nothing but disdain for each other as adults and brutalize the women in their lives as if to one up each other. It’s almost a shame that the cinematography is so gorgeous and Ennio Morricone’s score is as beautiful as always.