Film Review: Bugsy

 "Bugsy"

**** (out ****)

Barry Levinson's "Bugsy" (1991) is part gangster movie, part bio-pic, and part Hollywood romance. Who would have ever thought such a thing when telling the story of one of the world's most famous gangsters, Bugsy Siegel?

"Bugsy" almost seems more interested in mythology than facts. That makes it difficult to believe anything is factual in James Toback's screenplay adaptation of Dean Jennings' book We Only Kill Each Other. But when a film is directed this expertly and is this finely acted, what difference does it make? "Bugsy" is one of the great unappreciated gems of the 1990s. Because of that I wanted to include it as part of this year's Was I Right? theme, my year long re-examination of previous top ten choices to determine if I was right to choose them. "Bugsy" was my pick as the best film of 1991.

When "Bugsy" was originally released much critical acclaim was being thrown Warren Beatty's way with the critical consensus being only Beatty could have played the role. Or as the great New York Times critic Janet Maslin wrote it in her review, Beatty "found the role of his career in this sly, evasive schemer with the manipulative instincts of a born ladies' man." For his performance Beatty received his fourth - and so far final - Academy Award nomination as best actor.

What "Bugsy" also became known for was Beatty and co-star Annette Bening's romantic relationship off set, which has led to a (so far) 32 year marriage. However this may have been responsible for why the romance is the strongest element of the film. As a gangster film and a bio, it fails, not matching that "insider" feel we get from something like Scorsese's "GoodFellas" (1990). This also isn't a birth to grave story of the man either. "Bugsy" seems to primarily view itself as a love story. Look at the film's poster with the two characters embracing.

And that romance is key to accepting this movie. It's immaterial that Beatty's character is Bugsy Siegel. It could be John Doe and the integral parts of the story wouldn't change. With its art deco production design, the film plays like film noir where a woman, mixed with a man's jealousy, may lead to his downfall. "Bugsy" is about two damaged people finding each other and the not-so-positive effects they have on one another. In prophetic fashion the woman warns the man of the consequences their love may have.

The woman is Virginia Hill played by of course Bening. The two meet in Hollywood, a place Bugsy is instantly attracted to, as he visits an acting friend George (Joe Mantegna) - whom we can assume is based on George Raft - on the set of the movie "Manpower" (1941). She is a movie extra but she catches Bugsy's eye, despite the fact that he's a married man with two daughters, and she's dating an "associate".

Virginia possesses some of the same qualities as Bugsy. Both can be quite charming and at times demanding, with each commanding respect. She may not be like the other women he has known. She certainly is much different than his wife Esta (Wendy Phillips). Is that what makes Virginia so alluring to Bugsy? Does he love a challenge?

In typical noir style Virginia is a woman Bugsy can't control. She can see through his suave demeanor and has no problem walking away from him. This leads to Bugsy's jealousy and perhaps inevitable demise. He can never tell what she is thinking. Does she love him? Is she using him? Can he trust her? Whenever he receives contradictory information about Virginia he chooses to pretend like he doesn't believe it, only to confront her in private. Because more than anything else Bugsy doesn't want to be made a fool of in front of people. These moments nearly rise the material to the level of a psychological thriller. 

In Warren Beatty's hands, Bugsy is a street smart guy that seems to have all of the angles figured out. He exudes charm and confidence and yet there are moments when Bugsy shows vulnerability when he is in private. The vulnerability usually revolves around his feelings for Virginia and Esta. Virginia demands Bugsy divorce his wife if they are going to be together. He says he will and yet I suspected a reluctance on his part. He seems to revere his wife but I thought felt pressure to leave her in order to prove his love to Virginia. And while Bugsy may love Virginia, he also loves himself. He's a dreamer. He doesn't just dream of building a city in a desert, he also sees himself as a movie star and as a man that could possibly assassinate Mussolini.

Toback's screenplay draws a lot of parallels between Hollywood and Bugsy's aspirations of fame and his life as a gangster. Not only is Virginia a wannabe starlet but Bugsy even gets a chance at a screen test, which he watches in his home on a projection screen. And notice how director Levinson shoots Bugsy and Virginia's first kiss, where the viewer only sees their shadows behind the screen. It creates the illusion they are being projected onto a movie screen.

A lot of their romance however doesn't have the glitz and glamour of a Hollywood story. Take for example a scene I once believed was out of place in the film but watching it again I focused on Virginia's reaction and positioning in the sequence. The scene is meant to represent a power struggle. Bugsy has discovered Jack (Richard Sarafian) has been stealing money. In order to exert his dominance over Jack, Bugsy makes the man grovel, barking like a dog. This "conversation" can be heard by Virginia in another room. While it looks as if fear has taken over her face, after Jack leaves, Virginia and Bugsy begin to have dinner. Bugsy acts as if nothing unusual has happened. Virginia begins to kiss him. Is she attracted to his power? Or is she fearful of it? With Beatty in the role this dynamic between the two characters makes us naturally think of "Bonnie and Clyde" (1967) where robbing banks served as a kind of foreplay.

Soon Bugsy's obsessions grow beyond Virginia as he juggles his attention between her and building a hotel in the desert, The Flamingo, supposedly named after a nickname for Virginia's legs. But Bugsy has a difficult time trying to convince others to share in his dream. Men like Meyer Lansky (Ben Kingsley) and "Lucky" Luciano (Bill Graham) are more interested in the cost of the project. Here is where Bugsy and Virginia's relationship will be tested as well as the limits of Bugsy's charm. Bugsy and Lansky were childhood friends but Lansky can only do so much to protect Bugsy. This relationship is meant to mirror one between Bugsy and Harry Greenberg (Elliott Gould) ending in similar ways.

During the Flamingo scenes we see the power balance between Bugsy and Virginia begin to tilt. Virginia ends up taking a more active role in the building of the hotel, morphing herself into Bugsy, imitating his speech. Just like Bugsy previously imitated being a movie star. Bugsy puts Virginia in charge of finances for the hotel, a move those closest to him question. Is it a test or a true act of faith? 

In the end unfortunately it doesn't matter. Bugsy Siegel was murdered - in a case that still remains unsolved - before Siegel's vision for the Flamingo became a success and Las Vegas became the city he imagined it could be. In critic Roger Ebert's Chicago Sun-Times review he describes Bugsy as "if he were not a gangster might have been honored on a postage stamp by now, as the Father of Las Vegas." It all suggest amazing potential and unfulfilled dreams.

Director Barry Levinson, who was coming off great acclaim for films such as the best picture Oscar winner "Rain Man" (1988) and "Avalon" (1990), treats this material as if it is his version of The Great Gatsby. In its own way "Bugsy" is the story of the American Dream. Like "Avalon", Levinson is also able to make Jewishness a fixture within this story. As has been mentioned by several critics, unlike most other mob stories the characters here are primarily Jewish - Lansky, Greenberg, and Mickey Cohen (Harvey Keitel) - and not Italians.

That may be Levinson's most significant personal imprint on the film. I haven't spent much time discussing his work over the last 16 years of this blog but Levinson is a talented filmmaker - twice nominated for a Best Director Oscar - that has sadly been ignored by the Hollywood system for some time now. Some of his last couple of films were made for TV - "The Wizard of Lies" (2017), "Paterno" (2018), and "You Don't Know Jack" (2010), which made my runner's up list as one of the best films of the year. Unfortunately, a couple of critical and financial misses - "Toys" (1992), "Sphere" (1998), "Envy" (2004), and "Man of the Year" (2006) - have made "Bugsy" perhaps the last truly meaningful film he was behind.

To answer my own question of was I right to place this on my list as one of the best films of 1991, I'd say yes. "Bugsy" holds up after multiple viewings and I believe is one of those films you pick up on something new each time you watch it. Should I have positioned it in the number one spot? Too many years have passed for me to fully remember the quality of all the films released that year to reasonably say.

Still it is hard to believe the film has dropped out of the public's conscious. Here is a film that received 10 Academy Award nominations, more than any other film that year. It was nominated for eight Golden Globes, winning best picture. It received "two thumbs up" from Siskel & Ebert. And yet it takes a backseat to "Silence of the Lambs" (1991) which went on to win the top major categories at the Academy Awards that year. To me "Bugsy" is a far superior film. As the cliché goes, this is the kind of movie they make Oscars for. I suppose like the Bugsy in this film, the movie didn't live up to its potential success. Of all those Oscar nominations, it walked away with two wins - Best Costume Design and Best Art Direction-Set Decoration. It only won one of its eight Globe nominations and never became the box-office hit some hoped it would have been.

Could it be because it isn't recognized by movie fans as a true gangster movie? In the 1990s alone you had titles like "GoodFellas", "A Bronx Tale" (1993), "Casino" (1995), "Carlito's Way" (1993) and "Donnie Brasco" (1997) to name a few. Those movies seem better remembered. They still play on TV. Doing a quick on-line search you can't find "Bugsy" on Blu-ray and the original theatrical version on DVD - which is what I own - seems to have fallen out of print. Only used copies are available. There is an Extended Cut which is easily available however.

There is probably an element of truth to that. "Bugsy" may not be the best screen version on the life of Bugsy Siegel. It's not steep in Mafia lore. This is a character study of a man in constant conflict within himself and his public image. Violence and glamour. Virginia and Esta. Movie stars and the Mob. This is most likely what attracted Warren Beatty to the project in the first place. The character seen here, whether it is the real Bugsy or not, is a rich, fascinating character because of these conflicts. There is a lot for an actor to grab hold of.

"Bugsy" is a strong film filled with terrific performances. The chemistry between Bening and Beatty is practically palpable. It is a career highlight for Beatty in particular and Barry Levinson may not have directed a better film since this. "Bugsy" truly is one of the best films of 1991 and was deserving to be on my list as one of the best films of the 1990s.