Once Upon a Time in America
R
May 23, 1984
Drama · Nearly four hours that moves deliberately but rewards patient viewers.
Acclaimed crime epic
8.3/10
IMDb
86%
Fresh
75
75/100
Metacritic
🎬
8.4/10
TMDB
The brief
Sergio Leone's final film is a nearly four-hour meditation on memory, friendship, and betrayal that moves like molasses through time but never feels indulgent. De Niro anchors the sprawling narrative with quiet devastation while James Woods delivers his most unhinged performance as his volatile partner in crime. The film drifts between past and present with dreamlike logic, building to moments of shocking violence that hit like cold water. If you loved The Godfather Part II's structure or have the patience for Tarkovsky, this epic gangster elegy will wreck you.
epic gangster meditation
memory-haunted
slow-burn devastation
operatic violence
nostalgic brutality
sprawling tragedy
The verdict
If you have the patience for deliberate pacing and love epic character studies that unfold like memories, this is an essential gangster saga that rewards your investment with devastating emotional payoffs. If you need tight plotting or get restless during long, contemplative sequences, nearly four hours of dreamlike storytelling will test your limits.
Watch with
- 👤 Solo viewing for maximum emotional impact
- ⚠️ Skip if you need constant action
Heads up
- Graphic gun violence and murder (extreme)
- Sexual assault scene (extreme)
- Child endangerment and abuse (moderate)
- Drug use throughout (frequent)
Credits
- Director
- Sergio Leone
- Cast
- Robert De Niro, James Woods, Elizabeth McGovern, Treat Williams, Tuesday Weld, Joe Pesci, Burt Young
Official synopsis
A former Prohibition-era Jewish gangster returns to the Lower East Side of Manhattan over thirty years later,
