I'm not sure why films about the mob ever got so popular. I will admit that this film has a good cast. But since the characters are mostly lowlife criminals, why am I supposed to care about them? Organized crime is extremely depressing -- not something to make movies about. The story unfolds well enough, but the complete lack of moral compass that characterizes mobsters like these ruined it for me.<br /><br />I think time will cast the entire crime/noir/neo-noir genre in a strange light, and people will start wondering why films that wallow in gratuitous violence and organized crime were ever considered entertaining. Any thinking person will realize that America's slow decline throughout the twentieth century was the natural result of rampant criminality getting the upper hand.