Bugsy is a crime-drama film that tells the story of mobster Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel that is based from research material by Dean Jennings' 1967 book We Only Kill Each Other.It stars Warren Beatty in the title role as Bugsy Malone together with Annette Bening, Harvey Keitel and Ben Kingsley.Barry Levinson directs.The movie is a character study of mobster Bugsy Siegel.He arrives in California in the 1940's and gets assigned to oversee the L.A. rackets. He is quickly seduced by both the glamor of Hollywood and actress Virginia Hill,whom he romances despite being unable to leave his wife and children. He soon has a vision to transform a barren stretch of Nevada desert into an oasis of gambling and entertainment which later becomes Las Vegas,a town with big, classy casinos that had name acts in their show rooms. Nobody shared his vision. But he knew that if he built it, they would come. And he did build one casino, the Flamingo, its named inspired by Virginia Hill's legs.Funded by his gangster bosses, including Meyer Lansky, the flamboyant Siegel sees his budget soar past its original $6 million as it eventually became a $200 billion dollar industry.He spent so much of the mob's money on it, in fact, that he was killed before he could see the modern city spring from his dream.One great thing about Bugsy is the fact that the story is told not as history, but as a romance. The screenplay shows Siegel as a smooth, charming, even lovable guy, even though he was also a cold-hearted killer. The two sides of his character hardly seem to acknowledge one another as on the one hand, he is a family man with a wife and children, who goes to work every day; and on the other hand, he is an adulterer whose business involves killing people, and who defies the Mafia itself by spending more of his money than he has quite gotten around to accounting for.In addition to that,Beatty's performance in it is probably one of the best in his career.At the conclusion,one would probably feel saddened by the fact that Bugsy did not live to see his dream fulfilled.

I always had a fascination with gangster movies and I heard about Lucky, Meyer, and Bugsy being the foundation for the mafia that grew to Olympian status. The mood was set right from the beginning of the movie with who and what this movie would be about. In the background during the credits you hear conversations about clothing, style and compliments then you hear a woman and Ben... Enough said! The wardrobes where amazing and to the T with the times. I just loved Harvel Keitel as Mickey Cohen, wow, his attitude and his demeanor was perfect! I really loved this movie and I quote it when I can. For those that like or love gangster movies this is a must see to know about the foundation of organized crime.

Bugsy is a typical gangster/mob movie; it has got the wise guys, the families, the family problems, and a tragic flaw in the protagonist. It is also 2 1/2 hours long, which you should expect with any biopic anyway, but I think it can get a little tedious in some areas. First off, Warren Beatty is brilliant, and there is no question in my mind that it was anything less than perfection. His supporting cast's performances were excellent as well including those of Harvey Keitel, Ben Kingsley, and Annette Bening. The film probably deserved all the Oscar nominations it received, but, with the exceptions of Beatty's performance and a couple technical awards, nothing deserved the Oscar. However, I do not want to give a bad impression of this film because it does deserve some approbation.The story of Bugsy Siegel is indeed a true story. Siegel was a New York Jewish gangster, who moved out to L.A., and one thing led to another and resulted in Bugsy building the Flamingo hotel and casino in the middle of the desert. This is the man who put Las Vegas on the map. Bugsy (by the way, don't call him Bugsy to face) is very insane. Also, Kingsley's character gets to introduce Bugsy's tragic flaw: he doesn't "respect" money. This combination makes one very unique mobster that I can not compare to any other. Just wait for the scene relating to dogs and pigs; I don't want to reveal anymore because this is where Beatty shines. Virginia Hill (Bening) is a cookie cutter actress going steady with one of Siegel's or somebody else's soldiers. Bugsy starts to look fondly on her, and thus starts the romance. There should be no surprise whatsoever since they're married in real life, but Beatty and Bening do have great chemistry on screen. Their relationship brings out a lot of fun in the film. Again, Bugsy is a tragedy. I don't think that's spoiling it since you can learn that somewhere on the Internet, but I do want to let you know what you're getting into. It is a very interesting story with a few laughs and some irony here and there. Barry Levinson made a well-constructed film that flows very nicely and only lacks where I assume the screenplay does. I would not say it is at the caliber of Goodfellas or The Godfather Trilogy, but, all in all, it is a pretty decent movie.I highly recommend that you definitely see it.

Can anything new be added to the seemingly endless cycle of big screen gangster movies? Maybe not, judging by this lavish, overlong tribute to mobster Ben 'Bugsy' Siegal. In a role perhaps written with Warren Beatty in mind, the title character is presented as a charming, vain, lecherous wannabe actor with a weakness for Hollywood glamour, which if true would make this film his dream come true. Typical for director Barry Levinson it's a big, glossy production, well cast with reliable talent and tailor made for Oscar consideration, with plenty of domestic melodrama and backstage romance, plus a memorable, histrionic death scene for its star. The script by James Toback opens strong, but fatally softens Siegal's lethal character (after only one frightening temper tantrum) by concentrating more on the underworld myth of the man who 'discovered' Las Vegas. Even more damaging is the heavy-handed comedy, which drags the film away from its subject into something uncomfortably close to parody.