Lansky (1999)

Meyer Lansky, along with Bugsy Siegel and Lucky Luciano, helped mold organized crime in America into "the Syndicate," a business run as efficiently and ruthlessly as any corporation. Richard Dreyfuss plays Lansky (as do Max Perlich and Ryan Merriman). Starting out with Lansky as an aging, ill, cranky man taking refuge in Israel, the film tells his life in a series of flashbacks, starting out as a young Jewish tough trying to hold his own against Irish gangs in New York. Lansky and his associates climb the ladder of crime over the years, turning Las Vegas from a quiet desert town into a swank gambling hot spot, eliminating any rogue elements or competition that could hurt the cause. Senator Estes Kefauver came along to put a dent in the Mob's activities by the l950s, but Lansky and company came through fairly unscathed. With direction by John McNaughton and a pungent David Mamet screenplay, this should be top-drawer stuff, but, oddly, it comes across as only average. The movie's chronological structure, jumping back and forth in time, becomes a little confusing, then irritating. Three actors playing the same man over the years make it a bit difficult to nail down his real essence, while several other characters are barely more than window dressing. Also, the Judaism of Lansky, Siegel, Rosen, and Rothstein is given short shrift in the story. With tighter editing and firmer direction, Lansky could have been very good, but as is, it's just what it is: a made-for-cable biopic. --Jerry Renshaw Amazon.com

Lansky

Excellent movie. It explains how Las Vegas was founded and how the gangsters had a lot - if not all - to do with its development. September 20, 2006

Mafia

I found the film interesting because it portrays a mafia boss of another origin than those I have seen in other movies. Lansky is a Jew of Russian origin. This is during the pogroms in Russia, and Meyer's parents decide to escape when the rabbi is being killed while the mob put houses on fire. The Lansky family emigrates to the USA.

It is here Lansky meet up with other children in one of the ghettos where immigrants live. It starts with gambling among children, and gradually it goes from there to big crime.

I found the film interesting, and mainly so because I find Lansky's story a bit different than most other Mafia films I have seen. Lansky was not of Italian descent (on the contrary to other people I have seen portrayed), and he seemed quieter than other Mafia characters in films.

Still, in this movie it is obvious that he is intelligent and one of the leaders of the cartel.



February 21, 2005

Trash

The price reflects the quality of this film. Too many things are wrong with this movie to name. First of all, the script is HORRID, and most of the acting is HORRID, its very boring. Secondly, the actor looks nothing like Lansky. The best part of the movie was the beginning when they showed Meyer and Bugsy as kids. It was all downhill from there. I recommend the BONANNO movie instead of this crap, THAT even had more details and interesting bit about Lansky than this flick. October 29, 2004

What was this?

What was this movie? Meyer Lansky did a lot of good for this country. He was a wonderful, Jewish gangster. There should be more people like this mensch. This director and Richard Dreyfuss, dare to tell the story of a great man such as Meyer Lansky? Oh Please!!!!!!! September 23, 2003

Dreyfuss and Perlich are Incredible as Meyer Lansky

The overall production quality of "Lansky" is barely adequate. This HBO TV special comes across as a film made under severe time and financial constraints. Nonetheless, the acting talent of Richard Dreyfuss is utterly fantastic. The now middle-aged star gives a performance that ranks among his very best. Dreyfuss clearly understands this low keyed Jewish gangster who lead much of American organized crime in the previous century. The character actor Max Perlich also does a splendid job of portraying Lansky during his earlier years. Perlich is a skillful thespian who deserves greater respect and attention. He ought to have received at least an Academy Award nomination for his splendid supporting work in "Rush."

Meyer Lansky was something of a highly intelligent mob boss who essentially perceived himself as a misunderstood polite business man; neither better nor worse than the titans of that era's capitalist business organizations. Lansky rationalizations conveniently ignored the fact that murder and other forms of violence are not everyday realities of conventional American capitalism. Lansky, though, was probably correct to conclude that FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover and Senator Estes Kefauver hounded him mostly out of less than noble reasons.

"Lansky" accurately depicts the Jewish gangsters as far more intelligent than those generally found in other ethnic groups. Also, the Meyer Lanskys, "Bugsy" Siegels, and Alfred Rothsteins were the only generation of that ethnic tradition that chose careers in organized crime. Their progeny did not follow in their father's footsteps! Meyer Lansky, for instance, made sure that his own son attended West Point and became a U.S. military officer. "Lansky" earns four stars. I highly recommend this movie if you are someone genuinely interested in understanding the motivations of a Meyer Lansky. He may not be an American hero, but Lansky cannot be ignored if you truly desire to comprehend the difficulties of many to assimilate into our national culture. August 20, 2001

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