Bugsy Film Review

Just don't call him that to his face. Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel was a dreamer. An American entrepreneur who thought big. An optimist till his last breath. Today he would be saluted in the world of business. He invented Las Vegas. He was also of course a killer and a sociopath. Like most sociopaths he could be enormously charming, convincing, vain, feel indestructible, be generous and have the morals of a snake. Hell, today he would probably run for President. He grew up with Lucky Luciano and Meyer Lansky. Went to work for Arnold Rothstein and later with his two friends built a gambling empire. Sometimes of course you have to break the glass and a few knees to get ahead. Then he was sent out to California to "incorporate" a bookie outfit, met and fell in love with Virginia Hill and took a drive to a shanty town called Las Vegas. He saw his future. And his fate was set in motion.

This is a beautifully rendered film beginning with Bugsy's trip to California after a quick stop to kill a man in front of nine witnesses. No one talked. Everything in the film is lush, shot with a loving lens and a painterly eye. Set in the 1940s. The period detail is nostalgic and perfect with the big cars, immaculate nightclubs, well cut lawns and outfits. Everything is done well in the film from an artistic perspective with no false notes. But this film belongs to Warren Beatty. He takes on Bugsy with gusto and smiling eyes. He turns a violent gangster film into a tragic romance that sits heavy on you. Beatty has always been a charmer in his films - he can't help himself - Kaleidoscope, Dollars, Heaven Can Wait, Shampoo, Bulworth. He brings that same charm here and piles it on like a layered cake. But his abrupt turns to anger when the eyes go dead, the voice becomes a sharp stiletto full of menace, his body language speaks of death - is astonishing. I have rarely seen pure psychotic rage so naked. It is a tremendous performance.

He goes after everything in skirts and long legs with the crinkled eyes and sweet boyish smile and the women fall like a deck of cards - seduced in the train or in an elevator. Then he falls for Virginia and then for Las Vegas - hard to be sure which he loved more - but he wanted both. They both killed him. He wanted perfection. He wanted the dream he saw Vegas would become - the neon lights, the best entertainers, the best food, a street of luxurious hotels and casinos that never closed, stars flying in - and the money pouring in. But the budget kept going higher, the investors (Mafia) getting impatient and his love stealing two million dollars. He had to know it was coming. Or maybe he thought he could charm his way out.

A great cast of Ben Kingsley as Meyer Lansky who could only protect him for so long; a hard Harvey Keitel as his number two man; a bulked-up Elliot Gould as a sad clown of a gangster, Joe Mantegna as the film star George who has to be George Raft which they probably could not say; and of course, Annette Benning as Virginia Hill giving a cold eyed mercenary seductive siren performance. And in real life like Hill conquered Siegel, Benning finally pinned down the Hollywood lothario for good. Still married 30 years later.

There are so many good scenes in this - well crafted, good script and the acting is superb. Even Wendy Phillips as Siegel's wife has one great emotional dam busting scene with Beatty. As does Benning near the end in the rain like we stumbled on Casablanca as the plane is ready to leave. A favorite is of Siegel kicking the hell out of a man on the floor and sees his reflection and his hair out of place and he stops for a moment to neaten up. Then continues. Directed by Barry Levinson who brings that same nostalgic mood and look as he had in Diner and The Natural. Whether you should actually give a damn about these two unscrupulous immoral people is a matter of debate - but they found love somewhere in the blackness of their soul and perhaps that is enough for their salvation. And for us to care.

Bugsy Siegel & George Raft