It's funny you should say that Pherdy; De Niro is my second favourite actor (after Hackman), and IMO is better than Pacino. But on the one occasion where they appear head to head, I prefer Pacino. But the trouble with the casting was that I wanted De Niro to get away.

Despite the fairy-tale solution at the end, the film is a true epic, but not in the time-spanning scale of the likes of G'Fellas et al. It's cast is near-perfect.

The problem is that the key scene--the bank robbery--happens a good distance from the end, so it's overlong and dragged out, and IMO is unnecessary. It could be cut about forty minutes, and would stil be just as good.

I'd give it two stars out of four.

Mick