BUGSY (1991) **1/2 In his desert epiphany Warren Beatty looks most like, as Harvey Keitel says, a guy "looking for somewhere to piss." How did this film garner 10 Academy Award nominations? Beatty gets across the idea that Bugsy Siegel was a visionary lunatic and most of the surrounding actors are ok, with Ben Kingsley somewhat better as an honest but flawed Meyer Lansky. Ironically one of the main problems is that there's no apparent romantic spark between Beatty and Annette Bening; in direct contrast to real life her character doesn't appear to possess the necessary psychological bait. Ennio Morricone's soundtrack is occasionally brilliant, most obviously during the closing scene. So what about Bugsy, does it say he was a capitalist or a dreamer? A guy with big money-making capabilities but was himself the incarnation of liberal fiscal irresponsibility; herein perhaps lies the Rosetta stone to the hearts of the voters.
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