Another mob movie based in new york..very few have succeeded at it. This one bites more than it can chew, and gets choked in the middle and dies. The narration starts like it is the history of the gangs of NY-with the civil war,and ends in the 90s..and thats where the story begins. Seriously??!What are we supposed to expect...?! Never has a movie aspired to be so much and delivered so little. The movie is lost from the start - its got too many characters, too many settings,everybody has an angle on everything...it all adds up to nothing in the end. Five guys were hustlers from when they were 10, but now do not have access to a handgun?! Therefore Dennis got to steal a canoe to pay for one? As I said, it doesn't add up. The side stories make no sense - Frankie's sister(the elongated wedding was unncessary),then Helen who does a about face in a cab,the union scenes(where was that going?!),the hundreds of thousands of bars that they hang out in(I know they all gotta be cool like that)...feels like this movie wants to tell the entire new york irish mob story in less two hours - and it fails. Nothing happens until a predictable end(howz that for a story line?). Save your time, and watch one of the Godfather movies for the 456th time and you have your time spent meaningfully