Generally I dislike period pieces. Truthfully that means any kind of period war or politics piece set before the 20th Century, but it's more fun to make crass generalizations rather than slightly honed generalizations. This movie is an exception to my rule. It brought me to a time in my country's history that I haven't really had the opportunity to explore. I am familiar with the big events but I never took the time to process how they all effected each other. Gangs of New York was able to take care of that for me.

It was interesting to notice what mattered most to men of that time and how they responded to those ideals. Despite this being a movie about gangs and bloodshed, not that much time was devoted to actual battle. We were mostly watching the development of Leonardo Dicaprio's character and how he worked to avenge the death of his father and the pride of the Irishmen living in New York. Although I couldn't relate to the lengths at which they went to achieve their goals, I can understand perfectly how a person wants to put his name and the name of his people in good standing. So I jived with this movie on a philosophical level.

The acting and cinematography in this film was nothing short of amazing. I loved Daniel Day Lewis. He was spectacular. I also thought that Cameron Diaz did a really good job. This and Any Given Sunday are her best performances. I think this movie is an amazing technical achievement. This should come as no surprise as Martin Scorcese is an undeniable genius.

I'm going to stop with all of the critical talk now and just say that this movie was engaging and fun. If you're looking for a non-stop action movie then you should keep looking. If you want a love story, then there is one here but it is not the main portion of the movie. If you don't care what makes up the movie and you just want to see something good, this is for you.