This is Lansky Lite. It is the crib notes of one of the most influential and least understood American Gangsters, a founder and shaper, there at the beginning of the Five Families. It goes fast and glosses over a lot, but Kietel does a very sensitive and lovely portrayal, one of his best efforts. This is yet another pretentious wriiten by/Directed by bit of hubris, as both the writer and the director have a loose grip and a superficial eye. I could imagine this history of a gangster made by someone with real talent, real stature but it was made by this lightweight directer who gives us the fast food version of an iconic American Gangster. His only good move was casting Harvey Kietel who did him one better, clearly for his own reasons.
