Watch Bugsy For Free

Save your money for something good and enjoyable

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

This is a dark and sometimes deeply uncomfortable drama

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

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

"Bugsy" was a major player at the Academy Awards in 1992, with 10 nominations in a variety of categories, including Best Picture. The biopic of noted gangster Benjamin 'Bugsy' Siegel featured recent Oscar winner Barry Levinson in the director's chair and certified star Warren Beatty in the title role. Focusing mainly on Siegel's relationship with Virginia Hill (Annette Bening) and his role in Las Vegas's rise to prominence, the movie was a success at the box office.The cast is impressive, with Beatty being joined by Ben Kingsley, Harvey Keitel & Elliott Gould in key roles. Annette Bening had just earned her first Oscar nomination and she proved quite capable of holding her own with Beatty. Their chemistry obviously extended beyond the set, since they were married a couple of months after the film's release. Beatty, Kingsley & Keitel all earned Oscar nominations but, to be honest, I didn't find any of their performances particularly outstanding, especially in comparison to their most memorable roles.The film's two Oscar wins were for art direction-set decoration and costume design, which serves to illustrate the movie's attention to period-specific detail. The direction, cinematography & score (by Ennio Morricone) were also nominated, showing the movie to be well crafted in all technical areas.James Toback's screenplay was also recognized with an Oscar nomination. It contains many elements common to gangster movies but takes a different approach by focusing on Siegel's relationship with Hill and his vision of Las Vegas as a mecca for gambling. There may not be enough emphasis on organized crime to satisfy fans of the gangster movie genre but the movie does paint an interesting portrait of Siegel as both a man of action and a dreamer.Ultimately, "Bugsy" has some good points but I think that hindsight has shown that maybe it wasn't quite as commendable as its star power suggested at the time. Chiefly, I find the acting and story to be a bit bland, though your mileage may vary. (Note that I haven't seen the extended edition but I doubt that making the movie longer would improve my opinion of it.)

Benjamin 'Bugsy' Siegel (Warren Beatty) is a married mob enforcer and fixer. He hates being called Bugsy. People fear him and he knows it. He goes to Hollywood to accompany actor George Raft (Joe Mantegna) and falls for starlet Virginia Hill (Annette Bening). On a trip to the desert outpost of Las Vegas, Bugsy comes up with an idea to build the Flamingo Las Vegas Hotel Casino.This has an overt gangster style. The story could be tighter but the performances are great. Bening is cool and Beatty is terrific. He is utterly charming. He is funny with the name. He is threatening when he needs to be. It's a great performance.

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.