It takes forty minutes to develop a sustaining head of steam and then proceeds to interject sub stories and plots that do little more than extend the feature to its epic length. I watched this a couple of times when it came out on VHS in the 80s and the only bit I could recall was the baby lottery, either confirms my senility or that it's just not that memorable a movie. Yes, the performances are great, believable and earnest enough but ultimately they fail to distract from the marathon placed before you and the stamina expected to make it to the end.
Review of Once Upon a Time in America
