Lansky (1999) (TV)

User Rating:

5.1/10   

Director:

John McNaughton

Writers (WGA):

Uri Dan (book) (in part) and
Dennis Eisenberg (book) (in part) ...

Release Date:

27 February 1999 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Crime

Plot:

This is the telling of the life of organized crime boss, Meyer Lansky, as remembered by him as a very...

Plot Keywords:

Based On Book | Character Name In Title

Awards:

Nominated for Primetime Emmy. Another 3 nominations

Cast

Richard Dreyfuss	...	Meyer Lansky
Eric Roberts	...	Ben Siegel (age 40)
Anthony LaPaglia	...	Charlie Luciano (ages 30-40)
Max Perlich	...	Meyer Lansky (20's)
Beverly D'Angelo	...	Teddy Lansky
Matthew Settle	...	Bugsy Siegel (20's)
Illeana Douglas	...	Anna Lansky
Francis Guinan	...	Sen. Estes Kefauver
Stanley DeSantis	...	Arnold Rothstein
Jeff Perry	...	Rosen
Ron Perkins	...	Polakoff
Maury Ginsberg	...	Uri Behar
Bill Capizzi	...	Joe Masseria
Ron Gilbert	...	Salvatore Maranzano
Sal Landi	...	Joe Adonis

MPAA:

Rated R for language, violence and nudity.

Runtime:

Germany:93 min | Spain:114 min | Argentina:98 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

Iceland:16 | Germany:12 | USA:R | Argentina:13

Filming Locations:

Ambassador Hotel - 3400 Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Frederick Zollo Productions

Goofs:

Factual errors: At the end of the film it stated that Lansky was born in 1903. In fact, he was born on July 4th 1902.

Soundtrack:

In the Mood

This is no "Once upon a Time in America"

This film succeeds in portraying Meyer Lansky as a victim in the whole procedure. This has to be rubbish - wasn't he allegedly the brains behind most of the mobster operations and died with millions of dollars of his ill-gotten gains stashed away somewhere in Switzerland? The constant leaping backwards and forwards in time, while expertly handled in "Once Upon a Time in America" was clumsily handled in this film. Dreyfuss, though a good actor, was miscast and therefore seriously out of his depth here: this only served to increase my dissatisfaction with the film. And what did happen to Anna? Why was it assumed that everyone watching the film was as au fait with the story as David Mamet? The only times the film lit up was when either Eric Roberts or Anthony Lapaglia were on the screen. It's a pity it wasn't the story of "Lucky" Luciano. Lapaglia dwarfed Dreyfuss both physically and metaphorically every time they were on screen together. All in all if you like gangster movies fact or fiction, I'd advice you to miss this one.