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Format: VHS
Jul 1992
Rated R
Recording Mode: (unknown)
Closed Captioned
135 min. |
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Details
Movie Description
Directed by Barry Levinson, BUGSY tells the true story of legendary New York mobster Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel. Visiting Hollywood "on business," the reckless and volatile Bugsy is drawn to Tinseltown and the glamour of the movies. Leaving his wife and kids in Scarsdale indefinitely, the womanizing Bugsy spends his time on movie lots and at Hollywood extravaganzas, contemplating his own potential stardom. But soon he falls hard for strong-willed actress Virginia Hill (Annette Bening), who isn't content with mistress status. A road trip to a down-trodden joint in the Nevada desert in a town called Las Vegas leads Bugsy to dream of building a world-class casino and turning the town into a moneymaker. Together Bugsy and Virginia--with backing from the mob--start building The Flamingo hotel and casino, hoping that legal gambling and five-star entertainment will entice the masses and rake in big bucks.
Synopsis
Based on the life of Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel, the gangster whose dream of building a resort casino in the middle of the Nevada desert resulted in Las Vegas.
After establishing himself as the head of the West Coast mob, Bugsy, a born-and-bred New Yorker, became fascinated with the glamour and celebrity of Hollywood. But his true obsession was "The Flamingo," the grandiose hotel he built against the wishes of many of his mobster pals. The ill-fated project, along with his infatuation with starlet Virginia Hill and his tendency towards self-delusion, eventually lead to his tragic, and violent, downfall.
Film Notes
Theatrical release: December 1991.
Filmed in Pasadena, CA; Los Angeles, CA; Mojave Desert, CA; and, Las Vegas, NV.
Harvey Keitel won the 1991 Best Supporting Actor Award from the Chicago Film Critics.
Barry Levinson was named Best Director of 1991 by the Los Angeles Film Critics. Additionally, the L.A. Critics awarded BUGSY Best Film.
Bugsy was named one of the 10 Best Films of the year by the National Board of Review. The National Board of Review also named Warren Beatty Best Actor.
Warren Beatty and Annette Bening's onscreen romance carried over into their offscreen lives, and the couple eventually married. Bening's subsequent pregnancy resulted in her turning the role of Catwoman in 1992's BATMAN RETURNS over to Michelle Pfeiffer.
Two other 1991 films featured portrayals of Bugsy Siegel: MOBSTERS, in which a young Bugsy was played by Richard Grieco; and THE MARRYING MAN, in which Siegel was played by Armand Assante.
Siegel's casino, The Flamingo, was named after girlfriend Virginia Hill's legs.
Nominated for ten Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Actor (Beatty), Best Director (Levinson), and two nominations for Best Supporting Actor (Harvey Keitel and Ben Kingsley), the film walked away with the awards for Best Art Direction-Set Decoration and Best Costume Design.
Industry Reviews
Rating: B+
Entertainment Weekly - pp.58-9 - Ty Burr (07/08/1994)
"...Beatty is terrific....Bening also makes a knockout impression..."
Rolling Stone - Peter Travers (01/09/1992)
"...An enthralling affirmation of everything Toback has ever wanted to put on film..."
Sight and Sound - Philip Strick (04/01/1992)
"...[A] very assured film....[Beatty] brings an enormous amount of brassy self-confidence to bear in this role, one that he clearly understands from the inside out..."
Los Angeles Times - Kenneth Turan (12/13/1991)
"Barry Levinson and production designer Dennis Gassner brilliantly evoke the corrupt glamour of Bugsy's illicitly glamorous world."
Uncut - Uncut Staff (07/01/2004)
"The first hour or so of Barry Levinson's biopic still tingles with smarts and venom." -- Grade: B
Entertainment Weekly - Tim Purtell (12/15/2006)
"Mr. Levinson was the dominant force on the set, and the film duly reflects his fundamentally comic sensibility..."
New York Times - Dave Kehr (12/12/2006)
3 stars out of 5 -- "[T]he Oscar-winning costumes and art direction provide a glossy sense of time and place."
Total Film - Jane Crowther (04/01/2007)
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