a review of 美国往事

This is one of those hearsay epics I had on my watchlist for a long time. I kept postponing it because of its lengthiness. Although I remember really liking Sergio Leone's gritty, sweaty Westerns, Once Upon a Time in America didn't resonate with me. There was something off all the time. All the right ingredients seemed to be there: impressive sets, wardrobes, Robert de Niro, you name it. But the narrative was often sluggish, and the acting was often unconvincing, too much like a stage-play. After an hour of trying to get into the film, I kept seeing sets with actors, instead of being pulled into an alternate reality. As I only saw around one third of the film, I won't give it a rating, but I don't think I'll give this another try.