Film is grotesquely inaccurate
I reckon that Warren Beatty was definitely NOT a good choice to play Ben Siegel. Warren might have been handsome but I didn't think he was as dapper, suave, charasmatic, enigmatic as what the real Ben Siegel was. Warren didn't bring him to life in my opinion, and I thought his acting was untrue.
Secondly, the whole portrayal of Ben Siegel in Bugsy was a load of sh!t. I would never have viewed Bugsy Siegel like they viewed him in this film. For example, I think the film shows Bugsy to be a good guy deep down, somewhat sensitive, somewhat needy of women, a loving/caring guy to all his friends and family. Overall, the film makes us feel SORRY for Bugsy when his casino fails. The film makes us feel DEVASTATED that Virginia Hill lost her lover. The film makes us LOVE him all the more when he dies. Yet I am an avid reader of anything to do with Benjamin Siegel and personally, I think he wasn't a nice guy. Charasmatic yes, charming, yes - only when he wanted something. A nice guy? Hell no!!! Arrogant, sexist, ruthless. A rapist. A degrader of woman. Trigger Happy. Warren Beatty doesn't know Ben Siegel from a pile of sh!t and the film makers obviously weren't interested in doing a bio-epic. More like 'based on actual happenings with the use of some dead guy's name'.
Lastly, Annette Benning was amazing in this role. But she is beautiful. And when you see pictures of the real Virginia Hill, she is NOT beautiful.
This film is entertaining, but I wouldn't rate it so much as what I'd rate something like 'Capote'.
Roman Polanski: The original five foot pole you don't want to touch anyone with.