Bugsy 1991

Clifford Terry, Chicago Tribune: Insouciant and flashy, co-producer Beatty is at his best when evoking the narcissistic, show-business side of Siegel. Read more

Gene Siskel, Chicago Tribune: Not just another gangster picture, as some had feared. James Toback`s sparkling script as interpreted by director Barry Levinson and producer-star Warren Beatty is both a rare love story between equals and a portrait of a dreamer. Read more

Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times: A great deal of the fun of watching this very assured film is seeing with what energetic panache the actor takes on the mantle of the mobster J. Edgar Hoover once called "the most dangerous man in America." Read more

Jay Boyar, Orlando Sentinel: Most actors give more contained performances as they get older or else they risk self-parody. Beatty, who has always seemed larger than life, gets even larger with age -- and on him it looks good. Read more

Carrie Rickey, Philadelphia Inquirer: From James Toback's crackling script to Warren Beatty's electric performance as gangster Ben Siegel, Bugsy is so engrossing that you feel uncharitable mentioning that while splendid in individual scenes, Barry Levinson's movie lacks propulsion. Read more

John Hartl, Seattle Times: What finally distinguishes Bugsy from other mob movies is its ever-present sense of the absurd. Read more

Richard Schickel, TIME Magazine: The picture belongs, in every sense of the word, to Beatty. Read more

Janet Maslin, New York Times: Warren Beatty, who is one of the film's co-producers, has found the role of his career in this sly, evasive schemer with the manipulative instincts of a born ladies' man. Read more

Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader: Warren Beatty delivers some of his best acting in years as Bugsy Siegel, the gangster responsible for the inception of Las Vegas as we now know it. Read more

Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly: Stylish, clever, and fast on its feet, Bugsy is a movie of vast scope and many small pleasures, a lavish, beautifully designed epic that never quite decides what it wants to be. Read more

Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: Bugsy moves with a lightness that belies its strength. It is a movie that vibrates with optimism and passion, with the exuberance of the con-man on his game. Read more

Peter Travers, Rolling Stone: Bugsy is less an indictment of the dark side than a black-comic look at our continuing fascination with it. Even when this powerhouse entertainment trips on its ambitions, you can't shake it off. Read more

Geoff Andrew, 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. Read more

Variety Staff, Variety: An absorbing narrative flow and a parade of colorful underworld characters vie for screen time with an unsatisfactory central romance. Read more

Hal Hinson, Washington Post: Bugsy, the exuberantly elegiac new Barry Levinson film starring Warren Beatty and Annette Bening, is a great gangster picture, with all the visceral excitement of a classic mob saga. But that's just its jumping-off point. Read more

Desson Thomson, Washington Post: There's a loopy madness in Bugsy. Everyone's either giddy, overly cranky or endearingly deranged. Read more