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Once Upon a Time in America

Once Upon a Time in America

Drama · Crime · 1984

A former Prohibition-era Jewish gangster returns to the Lower East Side of Manhattan over thirty years later, where he once again must confront the ghosts and regrets of his old life.

Movie details

Once Upon a Time in America

“Crime, passion and lust for power.”

1984 Drama · Crime 3h 49m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

8.4 / 10

Community rating

A former Prohibition-era Jewish gangster returns to the Lower East Side of Manhattan over thirty years later, where he once again must confront the ghosts and regrets of his old life.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over Once Upon a Time in America?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

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The Funeral

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After the funeral of one of their own, a criminal family decides to embark on an emotionally unnerving journey in an attempt to exact bloody revenge.

The Godfather Part II

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Drama · 1974

In the continuing saga of the Corleone crime family, a young Vito Corleone grows up in Sicily and in 1910s New York. In the 1950s, Michael Corleone attempts to expand the family business into Las Vegas, Hollywood and Cuba.

The Shawshank Redemption

The Shawshank Redemption

Drama · 1994

Imprisoned in the 1940s for the double murder of his wife and her lover, upstanding banker Andy Dufresne begins a new life at the Shawshank prison, where he puts his accounting skills to work for an amoral warden. During his long stretch in prison, Dufresne comes to be admired by the other inmates -- including an older prisoner named Red -- for his integrity and unquenchable sense of hope.

GoodFellas

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Lawless

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In 1931, the Bondurant brothers of Franklin County, Virginia, run a multipurpose backwoods establishment that hides their true business — bootlegging. Middle brother Forrest is the brain of the operation; older Howard is the brawn, and younger Jack, the lookout. Though the local police have taken bribes and left the brothers alone, a violent war erupts when a sadistic lawman from Chicago arrives and tries to shut down the Bondurants operation.

Carlito's Way

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Where it lives

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Sergio Leone

Written by

Sergio Leone · Enrico Medioli · Piero De Bernardi · Franco Arcalli

Robert De Niro

Robert De Niro

Noodles

James Woods

James Woods

Max

Elizabeth McGovern

Elizabeth McGovern

Deborah

Joe Pesci

Joe Pesci

Frankie

Burt Young

Burt Young

Joe

Tuesday Weld

Tuesday Weld

Carol

Treat Williams

Treat Williams

Jimmy O'Donnell

Court is in session

Put Once Upon a Time in America on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Prestige Tourist

“Form is the argument.”

Every composed frame and deliberate cut is evidence that control can be thrilling in its own right.

The prosecution The Popcorn Loyalist

“Technique in search of a pulse.”

Immaculate construction is still construction. The film may be too busy proving its craft to feel alive.