Synopsis
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.
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Cast
- Robert De NiroDavid 'Noodles' Aaronson
- James WoodsMaximilian 'Max' Bercovicz
- Elizabeth McGovernDeborah Gelly
- Treat WilliamsJames Conway O'Donnell
- Tuesday WeldCarol
- Joe PesciFrankie Monaldi
- Burt YoungJoe
- James HaydenPatrick 'Patsy' Goldberg
- William ForsythePhilip 'Cockeye' Stein
- Larry Rapp'Fat' Moe Gelly
Recommendations
- 100
The A.V. Club
A film of fatally flawed heroes, oversized passions, nation-building, and, inevitably, violence, America follows its characters from childhood to old age by way of the kind of grand-scale filmmaking that wouldn't be seen again until Martin Scorsese's Gangs Of New York. [2014 re-release] - 100
Chicago Reader
It’s a funny, rousing, brilliant piece of work. - 100
Chicago Sun-Times
An epic poem of violence and greed. - 100
Empire
While The Godfather delivers certainty and a comforting dramatic resolution, Once Upon A Time In America delivers a profound kind of mystery. While Coppola's film delivers answers, Leone's asks questions. It lingers and plays on the mind; its meanings shift and change like a faded memory or a half-remembered dream. - 100
Entertainment Weekly
A brilliantly detailed Lower East Side Jewish version of The Godfather. - 90
IGN
Watching the film takes some patience. You have moments where there's 10 seconds or more of silence in between dialogue. When it gets violent, it's not the psychotic glee we're used to from Quentin Tarentino and his acolytes, it's simply the way things were in that life, unvarnished and brutally honest. - 80
BBC
A film as epic and rich as Sergio Leone's imagination, Once Upon a Time in America sits at the head table of gangster movies. - 75
LarsenOnFilm
Once Upon a Time in America paints a portrait of the United States as a land of shadows and violence, yet one that nevertheless has an irresistible, romantic pull. [2014 re-release]
