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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Cast
- Warren BeattyBen 'Bugsy' Siegel
- Annette BeningVirginia Hill
- Harvey KeitelMickey Cohen
- Ben KingsleyMeyer Lansky
- Elliott GouldHarry Greenberg
- Joe MantegnaGeorge Raft
- Bebe NeuwirthCountess di Frasso
- Bill GrahamCharles "Lucky" Luciano
- Lewis van BergenJoe Adonis
- Wendy PhillipsEsta Siegel
Recommendations
- 100
Chicago Sun-Times
He’s a real smoothie, Warren Beatty, and when he plays one in a movie he is almost always effective. But his title role in Bugsy is more than effective, it’s perfect for him - showing a man who not only creates a seductive vision, but falls in love with it himself. - 100
Washington Post
A great gangster picture, with all the visceral excitement of a classic mob saga. But that's just its jumping-off point. It's also a salute to old Hollywood glamour, to the genre and the movies in general, and an elegant eulogy for the passing of those glory days. It's darned near perfect: violent, sexy and knowingly smart. - 90
Los Angeles Times
Levinson has always been a director who completely understands the concept of the American Dream, and his sensibility is perfect for this story of a man who cared so little about money that he was willing to stake everything he was or ever hoped to be on a crackpot scheme to turn a corner of Nevada desert into the pleasure dome of the American West. - 90
Time Out
With a sparklingly witty script (James Toback), classy direction and terrific performances all round, Beatty's return to the fray is his best movie since McCabe and Mrs Miller. - 80
Empire
If you can overlook the smarm and the historical airbrushing there's much to enjoy here. - 80
The Guardian
The man himself would have tried to hoodwink you into thinking he was a decent guy. Bugsy the movie follows suit. - 80
The New York Times
Allen Daviau's camera work and Albert Wolsky's costumes help to forge the film's high style, as does Ennio Morricone's score. But much of its elan comes from Mr. Levinson's obvious affection for the time and place that are his film's backdrop, and from the flair with which he stages even minor episodes. - 75
TV Guide Magazine
Bugsy is an elegant, knowing, but ultimately heartless homage to the bygone glamour of Hollywood and Vegas.
