Bugsy

Can anything new be added to the seemingly endless cycle of big screen gangster movies? Maybe not, judging by this lavish, overlong tribute to mobster Ben 'Bugsy' Siegal. In a role perhaps written with Warren Beatty in mind, the title character is presented as a charming, vain, lecherous wannabe actor with a weakness for Hollywood glamour, which if true would make this film his dream come true. Typical for director Barry Levinson it's a big, glossy production, well cast with reliable talent and tailor made for Oscar consideration, with plenty of domestic melodrama and backstage romance, plus a memorable, histrionic death scene for its star. The script by James Toback opens strong, but fatally softens Siegal's lethal character (after only one frightening temper tantrum) by concentrating more on the underworld myth of the man who 'discovered' Las Vegas. Even more damaging is the heavy-handed comedy, which drags the film away from its subject into something uncomfortably close to parody.