1. Martin Scorsese can be an old softy when he wants to be, De Niro's marriage proposal to Minnelli is perhaps his sweetest and most romantic scene I've even seen him do.2. Robert De Niro is able to be a goofball and let loose. As Jimmy Doyle he perhaps gives one of his most underrated performances, as a man who can be funny and relaxed, but at the same time have the kind of darkness rage and jealously that would come out in full force with "Raging Bull"
3. Liza Minnelli was quite the talent and perhaps if Hollywood musicals didn't go the way of the Doe Doe, she would've had a better more deserving career in the movies. I was blown away by her performance in every sense and was surprised it didn't warrant her an Oscar nomination.
4. The "Happy Endings" number with Minnelli could be thought of as overblown in a way, but it was the closest thing I think that a post Golden age film has gotten to recreating the energy and and grandeur of that era. Had Martin Scorsese been directing films in the 40s and 50s, he would've fit right in.
5. Try as he might, Scorsese cannot make a non-Scorsese movie and that's why we love him, and his final stamp comes with the ironic twist on the regular Hollywood ending by putting us back into reality.
Final Summation: Honestly the only thing that bothered me with this film was perhaps the length, however I would say the final third is probably the most powerful. Martin Scorsese has made a different movie that sets it a part from his usual more acclaimed films. I sensed that after making both "Mean Streets" and "Taxi Driver" earlier he felt like lightening up a bit, even though this is still in many ways a dark film about a relationship falling apart. I would put this along side some of my favorite Scorsese films and actually would rank it above his more recent work including his Oscar winning "The Departed".
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