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Actors: Robert DeNiro, James Woods, Joe Pesci, Burt Young, Tuesday Weld, Treat Williams, Elizabeth McGovern
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| Review Summary and Plot Commentary about Once Upon a Time in America |
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Robert DeNiro plays "Noodles", the leader of a group of Jewish boys in the lower east side of New York City. They are "bad boys" committing penny ante crimes, until they get the attention of a rival gang leader who wants them to pay up or get out. One of the boys is shot and Noodles feels guilty over it. He later kills a cop for revenge and goes to prison. Life is changed when he gets out, but his gang has gotten rich while he was gone, cashing in on Prohibition. Can he just step back into the leadership role? Or has old rival Max taken over? Is there any gang loyalty any more? And who gets the girl? And what happened to the money they agreed to share among all the members? This film is told in a series of flashbacks (pay close attention or you'll lose the thread), which spreads over several decades from the 1920s to the 1960s. The movie is about 3.5 hours long.
--BethG, Resident Scholar
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| Analysis of Once Upon a Time in America |
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Composition of Movie
Actual chase scenes or violence - 50%
Planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 30%
Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 20%
Time/Era of Movie:
- 1900-1920's
Crime & Police Story?
Yes
Criminal enemy is...
- law enforcement gone bad
- Mafia conflict
If this is a criminal POV story...
- one man's rise in a criminal organization
Main Character
Identity:
- Male
Profession/status:
- accused criminal
Age:
- 20's-30's
Hair color?
- brunette (Brown)
Hair style
- short/standard straight (man)
Body type
- average (man)
Events of movie makes character more...
- sensitive
Ethnicity/Nationality
- Jewish
How sensitive is this character?
- middling sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor
- Strong but gentle sense of humor
Intelligence
- Average intelligence
Physique
- average physique
Secondary Main Character
Identity:
- Male
Hair color
- blonde
Hair style
- (man) short/standard straight
Body type
- average build (man)
How much in movie?
- 60%
Ethnicity/Nationality
- White (American)
Main Adversary
Identity:
- general circumstances
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in:
- 60%
Setting
United States
Yes
The US:
- Northeast
City?
Yes
City:
- New York
Style
Accounts of torture and death?
- gory visuals of deaths
Movie makes you feel...
- depressed/sad
How many deaths in film?
- 8 or more
Sex/nudity in movie?
Yes
What kind of sex:
- seeing breasts
- seeing nude female butt
- seeing nude male butt
- seeing full frontal--women
- sex under blankets
How much use of techno gadgets?
- 3 (some)
Kind of violence:
- hand to hand
- guns
- knives
Unusual forms of death
- blunt clubbing (like seals)
Any profanity?
- Some foul language
If Soundtrack VERY NOTICEABLE...
- Orchestra/classical
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Resident Scholar Profiles
TOP SCHOLAR:
 BethG
SCHOLARS:
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Note: the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer(s). | |
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