Bugsy

1991 "Glamour was the disguise."
6.8| 2h14m| R| en| More Info
Released: 10 December 1991 Released
Producted By: TriStar Pictures
Country: United States of America
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
Official Website:
Synopsis

New York gangster Ben 'Bugsy' Siegel takes a brief business trip to Los Angeles. A sharp-dressing womanizer with a foul temper, Siegel doesn't hesitate to kill or maim anyone crossing him. In L.A. the life, the movies, and most of all strong-willed Virginia Hill detain him while his family wait back home. Then a trip to a run-down gambling joint at a spot in the desert known as Las Vegas gives him his big idea.

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Reviews

Evengyny Thanks for the memories!
Vashirdfel Simply A Masterpiece
GazerRise Fantastic!
Juana what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.
david-alkhed Before I review Barry Levinson's 1991 film Bugsy, I must stress that I have a soft spot for gangster movies, or anything gangster related really. Some of my favorite movies are Goodfellas, The Godfather 1 and 2, and I also really like The Untouchables, the original Scarface, Road to Perdition and Once Upon a Time in America. I also really like HBO's Boardwalk Empire. So I am kind of a sucker for gangster movies so I was really looking forward to watching this movie, and I was not disappointed.First of all, I want to talk about the performances. Warren Beatty was perfect to play Bugsy. He manages to make a character who could have been portrayed too comical or too unlikable, but Beatty manages to blend the two perfectly in a way that feels natural and like a real flawed person. Harvey Keitel and Ben Kingsley are both really good as Mickey Cohen and Meyer Lansky respectively, however, the real standout for me besides Beatty is Annette Bening. She was terrific in this film. She looked like she was from that period, and she gave a terrific performance as a feisty and strong and independent woman who doesn't take crap from Bugsy, and that's really nice to see. The fact that she wasn't nominated for an Academy Award is a crime!Then secondly, I want to talk about the period, a very important element to the film. What I think Levinson and James Toback, the writer, managed to do was to perfectly blend in the period into the plot, without it being a distraction. It feels so natural, because it isn't called out for attention.And thirdly, I want to talk about the filmmaking. This is a very well-directed and very well shot film, it was shot by Allen Daviau who was Oscar-nominated for his work on this film. But the really impressive part was the art direction and costumes, both of which won two very well-deserved Oscars. Like I talked about with the period, the costumes and locations feel and look like they are from that period and I think it works really well.Overall, a really good film with great performances, a great use of the period and terrific filmmaking. I get the feeling that I will like the film more even the second time around.My final score, 8/10
tieman64 "The classy gangster is a Hollywood invention." - Orson WellesThe 1990s saw the resurgence of the gangster genre ("King of New York", "Bugsy", "Godfather 3", "Miller's Crossing", "Billy Bathgate", "Goodfellas", "Casino", "Dick Tracy", "Heat", "Donnie Brasco", "A Bronx Tale", "State of Grace", "Kansas City" etc). Most of these told fairly familiar tales, with the exception, arguably, of the down-beat "Donnie Brasco" and the off-beat "Kansas City". The 1990s also saw a number of gangster films centering on African-American crime lords ("New Jack City", "Menace to Society", "Dead Presidents" etc), the best of these being "Clockers" and "Boyz n the Hood".Released at the forefront of this cycle was Barry Levinson's "Bugsy". Based on a screenplay by James Toback, the film tells the story of Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel (Warren Beatty), the infamous American gangster.The plot? It is 1941, and Bugsy has left Brooklyn for Southern California. Assisted by childhood pal George Raft (Joe Mantegna) and local mobster Mickey Cohen (Harvey Keitel), Bugsy sets about expanding his criminal empire. Along the way he meets Virginia Hill (Annette Bening), a Hollywood extra. She's proud, feisty, different, a cocktail which sets Bugsy's heart alight. They fall in love.Warren Beatty specialised in playing doomed romantics ("Splendour in the Grass", "Bonnie and Clyde", "Shampoo", "Reds", "McCabe and Mrs. Miller" etc). In "Bugsy" he plays a guy caught between the barbarism of the gangster, and his own private idealisations. Bugsy dreams of a happy family, of an acting career, of Hollywood stardom, of legitimate business credentials, of assassinating Mussolini, of a life with Virginia, of being a "hero", all fanciful desires which are thwarted by the realities of being a crime lord. This tug-of-war plays out on the local newspapers, in which journalists refer to Siegel - much to his chagrin - by his gangland nickname "Bugsy" rather than "Benjamin", his proper name.The world necessitates Bugsy be a monster, not a dreamer, but these are monstrous necessities which Bugsy quickly loses interest in. "Bugsy doesn't care about money," a fellow crime boss ( Ben Kingsley) says, as Bugsy embarks upon his dream to build a grand hotel in the empty deserts of Las Vegas. Siegel's Flamingo Hotel is originally budgeted at a million dollars, but because of his fanaticism it winds up costing investors six times as much. Unsurprisingly, Bugsy's shot and killed by his business partners. Years later his hotel not only blossoms into a multi-billion dollar industry, but becomes the seed from which the entire gambling city of Las Vegas springs. What other obscenities, the film asks, do neon lights mask?Like most gangster films, "Bugsy" simultaneously romanticises and condemns its central character. Bugsy's nasty, unpleasant, but also likable, doomed, caught in a tragedy from which there is no escape. The film's tone itself veers wildly from farcical comedy to the macabre.How to balance a "normal family life" with "the life of a criminal" is a trite theme common in gangster films ("Godfather", "Goodfellas", "Scarface", "Heat", "Public Enemies" etc). Your typical gangster just can't stop killing cops and bad guys long enough to settle down and please his woman. This is the double helix of the genre: the gangster's obsessed with cash, but never has time for enjoyment. It's a stance mocked in Robert Altman's subversive "Thieves Like Us". For Altman, there's little meaningful distinction between the desires of the criminal and the civilian, and even less distinction between crime, politics and "legal" business.But Barry Levinson is no iconoclast. His Bugsy is yet another gangster constantly hounded by unhappy women, all of whom want his time. What's new in "Bugsy" is that EVERYONE wants a piece of Bugsy. Everyone wants Bugsy to operate on their terms. But Bugsy, a dreamer who refuses to abide, remains steadfast in his convictions. In a moment of Herzogian madness ("I will get that boat over that mountain!"), Bugsy insists that he will build that damn hotel. Nothing will stop him!Unlike most gangster films of the 1990s, "Bugsy" eschews postmodern tricks for an austere, classical style reminiscent of Coppola's "prestigeous" gangster pictures. Though the film indulges in many genre clichés, it handles each in a slightly fresh manner. The film benefits from several fine bit parts (Keitel and Elliot Gould in particular), but mostly it's Warren Beatty who holds things together. Beatty plays Bugsy as a big child, and because he's a bit of a wide-eyed loser (shades of Al Pacino's in "Donnie Brasco"), his Bugsy's all the more endearing. Like most Hollywood "biographies", the film has very little to do with the "real" Benjamin Siegel. It was scored by Ennio Morricone, whose voluptuous soundtrack doesn't quite suit either Levinson's aesthetic or Toback's prose. 7.9/10 – See "Mccabe and Mrs Miller".
Desertman84 Bugsy is a crime-drama film that tells the story of mobster Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel that is based from research material by Dean Jennings' 1967 book We Only Kill Each Other.It stars Warren Beatty in the title role as Bugsy Malone together with Annette Bening, Harvey Keitel and Ben Kingsley.Barry Levinson directs.The movie is a character study of mobster Bugsy Siegel.He arrives in California in the 1940's and gets assigned to oversee the L.A. rackets. He is quickly seduced by both the glamor of Hollywood and actress Virginia Hill,whom he romances despite being unable to leave his wife and children. He soon has a vision to transform a barren stretch of Nevada desert into an oasis of gambling and entertainment which later becomes Las Vegas,a town with big, classy casinos that had name acts in their show rooms. Nobody shared his vision. But he knew that if he built it, they would come. And he did build one casino, the Flamingo, its named inspired by Virginia Hill's legs.Funded by his gangster bosses, including Meyer Lansky, the flamboyant Siegel sees his budget soar past its original $6 million as it eventually became a $200 billion dollar industry.He spent so much of the mob's money on it, in fact, that he was killed before he could see the modern city spring from his dream.One great thing about Bugsy is the fact that the story is told not as history, but as a romance. The screenplay shows Siegel as a smooth, charming, even lovable guy, even though he was also a cold-hearted killer. The two sides of his character hardly seem to acknowledge one another as on the one hand, he is a family man with a wife and children, who goes to work every day; and on the other hand, he is an adulterer whose business involves killing people, and who defies the Mafia itself by spending more of his money than he has quite gotten around to accounting for.In addition to that,Beatty's performance in it is probably one of the best in his career.At the conclusion,one would probably feel saddened by the fact that Bugsy did not live to see his dream fulfilled.
MarieGabrielle A good film, while not classic, engages the viewer and makes them care about the characters. Today in 2013, we see VERY little of this. Upon re-watching Bugsy this past weekend (although it already has hundreds of reviews) It is worth my noting that its more than watchable, has some notable performances (Annette Bening looks lovely, although the accent is a bit off). Beatty while some trite family scenes and mistress vs. family man theme are utilized, is good.I avoid all big blockbuster films because: story is what matters. (Maybe not to the demographic that watches trash reality TV) but, I prefer a good film noir with real actors. "Bugsy" delivers an engaging narrative, and plus we have Ben Kingsley as Meyer Lansky (excellent understated performance).Harvey Kietel, Joe Mantegna, and Elliot Gould also as some of the members of Bugsy's "employees". The sets (especially of Beverly Hills home of Virginia Hill) are lush and interesting. The desert , and the scene of Ben Siegel's (Bugsy's) epiphany that casinos in Las Vegas could be a goldmine for the Mafia and its interests. Of note (and humorous) is Meyer Lansky (Kingsley) intoning that "what Ben is telling us is the desert is a good place to trap people into spending their money"...truer words about speculation and profit motive never spoken!.Bening looks lovely as Mistress Virginia Hill, a Chicago mob accessory who had deep roots in the organization, if you read her true biography. Intriguing character for certain. Miss Bening is an excellent actress, she assumes the role without the awkward false performances we see in some other bit part actors (Bebe Neuwirth for example, is miscast as Countess Difrasso, and lacks authenticity. Most TV regulars do, in a big film which requires sublime performance, they seem cartoon like and ruin the scene.Will not spoil the outcome, suffice to say there is adequate suspense, decent performances and an overall narrative that keeps the audience engaged.Warren Beatty himself engenders some empathy for the character of Bugsy (no easy feat), and while he uses looks to accomplish the persona, it still works. Highly recommended. 8/10.