Martin Scorsese (“Raging Bull”, “Taxi Driver”) is in the director’s chair for “Gangs Of New York” so I had really high expectations. However, the movie feels unfocused with the narrative being rather unclear and so much attention seems to have been paid to the costumes and the sets that it looks as though this movie was destined to be a musical.

Set in 1863, “Gangs Of New York” follows Amsterdam Vallon (Leonardo DiCaprio “Inception”, “Catch Me If You Can”), who returns to the Five Points, New York. He hopes he can exact revenge against Bill the Butcher (Daniel Day-Lewis “Lincoln”), who murdered his Vallon’s father (Liam Neeson “Michael Collins”). The film could have been a simplistic revenge tale but it gets side-tracked with politics and a love story.

DiCaprio can be great but here he is forgettable as Amsterdam Vallon. I did not understand this character as he is proud of his Irish-American roots but spends much of the film seeming happy to engage with the gangsters that oppress his people. Also, one scene shows him throwing away his copy of “The Bible” and in the next, he is hunting down his cherished necklace, which depicts a Catholic Saint. Daniel Day-Lewis is excellent as Bill the Butcher. Cameron Diaz (“Charlie’s Angels”) is forgettable and unnecessary as Jenny. Liam Neeson and Brendan Gleeson (“The Guard”) are good but do not get enough screen time. I was left confused as to who the real bad guys were, the Irish gangsters, the American gangsters, the politicians and even the Union itself all seem like candidates.

“Gangs Of New York” seems to all be about the costumes and sets and they do look great and the performance from Daniel Day-Lewis is magnificent but it is not enough to win me over. I also found serious problems with the video and sound editing on the fight scenes. I’m unsure if “Gangs Of New York” is the personal story of the Amsterdam character, a film about old-fashioned New York gangs, a piece about Irish immigration or a movie about the politics of the Civil War.