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My immediate feelings before seeing this film were recollections of the first half of Jerry McGuire ( an enjoyable romp ). I was not entirely happy with Di Caprio in the role of the son seeking revenge. He didn't come across to me as being slightly Irish with his Italian features. The other problem I had was how Bill the butcher allowed ex-Dead Rabbit members to join his clan. He is meant to be a blood thirsty killer ruthless in his pursuit of stopping Irish immigrants from entering New York. I did not see the logic in him keeping Irish members within his own clan or in doing very little against the further immigrants entering the city. Allowing Di Caprio to slowly build up a following also didn't make much sense.

The costumes were interesting although very theatrical. As for the truth behind the storyline, I doubt whether there was much in it regarding gang warfare in the city in those times. More likely it was between the black community and the whites. The love side of the story was all a bit pointless.

At the end the film appeared more like a common western hero v bad guy story rather than a film trying to say anything about a historical event.

I guess if you are a student or a hippy then you would understand how idyllic it would be to live in a small community with few responsibilities and most of the day spent playing in the sun. But most of us work and struggle from day to day to pay the bills. Would we swap that for the lifestyle displayed in this film? I doubt it. Most of us would have the island developed with hotels and every latest amenity for a 2 week break.

This film does very well in showing that the idyllic hippy life is not for the majority of us. It's final statement is that it is loyalty and friendship, not lifestyle, that matters.

There is no point going through this film and trying to make all the science fit. The scientific fact has been stretched to breaking point. I found this a very enjoyable experience with some of the best comic strip bad guys in any movie. Costner plays a likable, although traditional, nomadic hero taking care of no 1. Fortunately, there isn't really a love element in the film to spoil it too much. This film has numerous memorable scenes that verge on the hysterical including the oars coming out of the oil tanker, the dropping of the match into the oil tanker and Costner's bungie jump to save the girl. Great stuff. I can't wait for the producers to make a sequel.