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Bugsy

Play trailer Poster for Bugsy R 1991 2h 15m Biography Crime Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
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84% Tomatometer 64 Reviews 69% Popcornmeter 10,000+ Ratings
New York mobster Benjamin Bugsy Siegel (Warren Beatty) leaves New York City to dip into the glamour of Hollywood, Calif., and to build up syndicate gambling rackets. Bowled over by actress Virginia Hill (Annette Bening), the dapper Siegel courts her, despite having a wife and children. Obsessed with creating a gambling haven, Siegel takes racketeering to the Nevada desert and helps develop Las Vegas, only to find himself in deep water over his reckless construction of the Flamingo Hotel.
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Bugsy

Bugsy

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Critics Consensus

Stylishly scattered, Bugsy offers cinematic homage to the infamous underworld legend, chiefly through a magnetic performance from Warren Beatty in the title role.

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Critics Reviews

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Neil Jillett The Age (Australia) 08/16/2021
[Beatty] tries to make Siegel humorous and glamorously suave, but Is defeated by the futility of the enterprise. This paranoid sadist is not a nice guy. He is not even interesting; merely a bully with a few colorful mannerisms. Go to Full Review
Carrie Rickey Philadelphia Inquirer 10/29/2014
3.5/4
From James Toback's crackling script to Warren Beatty's electric performance as gangster Ben Siegel, Bugsy is so engrossing that you feel uncharitable mentioning that while splendid in individual scenes, Barry Levinson's movie lacks propulsion. Go to Full Review
John Hartl Seattle Times 10/29/2014
3.5/4
What finally distinguishes Bugsy from other mob movies is its ever-present sense of the absurd. Go to Full Review
Dan DiNicola The Daily Gazette (Schenectady, NY) Dec 18
4/5
A dashing mix of atmosphere and plot with excellent performances from a supporting cast, including Ben Kingsley and Harvey Keitel. It's great fun -- candy for adults. Go to Full Review
Rene Jordan El Nuevo Herald (Miami) 07/27/2023
Bugsy is a constant visual and auditive pleasure, also flattering to the spectators' intelligence. [Full review in Spanish] Go to Full Review
Mike Massie Gone With The Twins 03/31/2023
6/10
It’s the unconventional, erratic love story that remains the film’s most potent ingredient (the melancholy score by Ennio Morricone isn’t bad either), even if the educational notes about the famous rogue provide only modest entertainment value. Go to Full Review
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M D. @MDragna 19h It’s a movie full of bs… bugsy interactions with the DRAGNAs is all fantasy. The truth is far different thin the delusion the director Barry levinson try’s to portray. Micky Scenes in the movie are laughable at best he was a coffee gopher in real life’s to real big shots they sure af don’t show tom Dragna planting the 30 sticks of dynamite under mickys house, they don’t talk about the gambling ships jack had While bugsy was dreaming of casinos jack had one floating right of the coast just one of his many operations jack did not run a small operation either he was none as the al Capone of Southern California and they had operations going from San Diego all the way up to Washington in real life. I could keep going the scene where bugsy tells jack to bark like a dog,come TF on now the scene doesn’t even make sense there trying to say that cause jack taxed Mickey for stealing from him bugsy took it as jack was stealing from them, and who was them bugsy and Mickey wtf no sense made what so ever. thin they try to portray some fantasy bugs has about killing Mussolini “we all know in real life bugsy would have a far more of a vengeance for hitler”and they make it look like bugsy distaste for jack has something to do with that because of jacks Sicilian back ground it jst doesn’t make sense bugs worked with Sicilian/ Italians I’m pretty sure lucky Luciano help the allies get into Sicily they should have made it more factual a better reason for bugsy to not like jack could have been because jack originally got sent out west for killing a Jew in the in a poultry district back east it’s jst amazing you can make a completely bs movie about real life people I know there’s other mobsters that say Cali was open territory but it sure is funny when u look up who the west coast mafia family was the DRAGNAs pops up no other family See more Mickey B. @Mickerdoo Jan 30 Super interesting life of a short-fuse dreamer. With his expertise, you think he’d gone about it better. Benning is a force. Birth of Vegas. See more John C @JohnnyCToes Jun 6 This is the kind of film that Americans make best: It is fast-moving, hard-hitting, and it is about power. See more Bailey Giannini 03/11/2025 I finally saw the gangster film that I thought was just so so to me. Bugsy is a descent crime and gangster film that is based off of real life mob crime gangster, Bugsy Siegel. It tells the story of how he built the Flamingo Casino and how he got in over his head when he needed more than just the original $3 million to start with. This movie may have been better off as a documentary. I found myself bored throughout most of the film. The way a true story should be told should be in a way such as to keep the viewer engaged. And I didn’t feel engaged for the most part. The acting doesn’t land at times and the dialogue always seems scripted rather than just people having normal conversations. The story is also predictable from halfway to the end. The only thing that was super great was the cinematography, everything else was just so so, the directing even felt like it could’ve ended with a bad result but recovered to the okay approval category instead. Harvey Keitel is usually an actor to watch on screen. But that’s depending on what’ he’s in. He’s a great actor and he has amazing talent, and he does showcase it, but he tends to need to work with the right director to help him bring the best performance out of him. This wasn’t his best I’m afraid, and to be even more honest having him smoke a cigar as his character in the movie didn’t do anything to make up for any of the movie scripted dialogue. Even his character talked like he was in a movie not like he was having an everyday conversation. When you write dialogue it needs to be realistic. The ending to me was very predictable and felt very flat and there wasn’t any suspense whatsoever as I knew exactly what was going to happen. I’m very disappointed in Barry Levinson who is the director. He directed Disclosure which starred, Michael Douglas and Demi Moore. That one was such an amazing film and then to see him do a movie like Bugsy that pretty much is at the lowest of the barrel for gangster movies is just utterly shocking to me. I only recommend checking this out if you know what you’re getting into or if you like gangster movies without a lot of action or suspense, at least until the film is almost near the end, that is. I suggest others to stick with the ones we love like Scarface or The Godfather or even maybe try to find another unknown gangster movie that could be a rarity of a gem. But Bugsy is not it. Bailey Giannini (Film Buff) See more Mike P @RT09890132 01/16/2025 Another masterpiece from the twin geniuses Warren Beatty and Barry Levinson; two of the best filmmakers of their generation.. This is a compelling crime drama and character study of Bugsy Segal; the gangster who founded and created Las Vegas. Beatty has always been great at choosing historical fiction which entertains and also has some sort of social import; some commentary or background information about the landmarks in our lives...(See Reds the Parallax View and Bonnie and Clyde; all masterworks)...And Levinson is great at bringing us amazing human interest stories that are as much about the time and place as the people involved; so it's a perfect marriage..And this case study of the founding of Las Vegas; a key part of American culture; and all the colorful players involved, is brutally fascinating...As is the tragic but also genius Great Gatsby type underworld figure at the center of it all. Annette Benning is also amazing as his girlfriend. See more Yoosik Ethan O @RT21117456 12/30/2024 Strong performances throughout by a stellar cast and great writing. A great telling of the story of the famous gangster Benjamin Siegel. I’m not sure how accurate it is to the truth, but the story especially picks up when he has a vision for the Flamingo. See more Read all reviews
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Bugsy

Bugsy: Official Clip - Bugsy Gets Whacked Bugsy: Official Clip - Bugsy Gets Whacked 1:47 Bugsy: Official Clip - Kissing in the Rain Bugsy: Official Clip - Kissing in the Rain 2:21 Bugsy: Official Clip - Bark Like a Dog Bugsy: Official Clip - Bark Like a Dog 2:30 Bugsy: Official Clip - Harry Messed Up Bugsy: Official Clip - Harry Messed Up 1:38 Bugsy: Official Clip - Nothing's Too Fast Bugsy: Official Clip - Nothing's Too Fast 2:43 Bugsy: Official Clip - You Want a Divorce! Bugsy: Official Clip - You Want a Divorce! 2:30 Bugsy: Official Clip - Beating Joey Bugsy: Official Clip - Beating Joey 1:29 Bugsy: Official Clip - You Maniac! Bugsy: Official Clip - You Maniac! 3:03 Bugsy: Official Clip - Dinner Fight Bugsy: Official Clip - Dinner Fight 2:07 Bugsy: Official Clip - That's Flamingo Bugsy: Official Clip - That's Flamingo 2:21 View more videos
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Movie Info

Synopsis New York mobster Benjamin Bugsy Siegel (Warren Beatty) leaves New York City to dip into the glamour of Hollywood, Calif., and to build up syndicate gambling rackets. Bowled over by actress Virginia Hill (Annette Bening), the dapper Siegel courts her, despite having a wife and children. Obsessed with creating a gambling haven, Siegel takes racketeering to the Nevada desert and helps develop Las Vegas, only to find himself in deep water over his reckless construction of the Flamingo Hotel.
Director
Barry Levinson
Producer
Warren Beatty, Mark Johnson, Barry Levinson
Screenwriter
James Toback
Distributor
TriStar Pictures
Production Co
TriStar Pictures, Baltimore Pictures
Rating
R
Genre
Biography, Crime, Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Dec 13, 1991, Original
Release Date (Streaming)
Jan 8, 2014
Box Office (Gross USA)
$48.2M
Runtime
2h 15m
Sound Mix
Surround, Stereo
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