Lansky (film)
| Lansky | |
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DVD cover
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| Directed by | John McNaughton |
| Produced by | Fred C. Caruso |
| Written by |
Uri Dan Dennis Eisenberg Eli Landau David Mamet |
| Starring |
Richard Dreyfuss Eric Roberts Anthony LaPaglia |
| Music by | George S. Clinton |
| Cinematography |
John A. Alonzo Jeffrey Greeley |
| Edited by | Elena Maganini |
| Distributed by | HBO |
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Release date
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Running time
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93 - 114 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Lansky is a 1999 American made-for-television crime drama film. Directed by John McNaughton, it stars Richard Dreyfuss as the famous gangster Meyer Lansky, Eric Roberts as Bugsy Siegel, and Ryan Merriman as the young Lansky.
The movie circuits around flashbacks of Lansky's life, first showing Lansky as an old man looking for a rock to put on his grandfather's grave in Jerusalem. Upon seeing soldiers of the Israeli Defense Force, Lansky expresses regret that his grandfather never lived to see them. As he walks through a tunnel, he catches sight of an old man. He recalls how at the age of 10, he witnessed an elderly Jew being bludgeoned to death with an axe during a pogrom.
Later, as the shtetl is burning down, his parents hastily pack up their valuables and prepare to flee to America. Lansky's grandfather watches skeptically. His father suggests, "You think I should fight? You stay, and you fight."
The setting then changes to the Lower East Side, Manhattan. After his mother gives him money to go buy challah for Shabbat, Lansky comes upon a game of craps on the street corner. He then returns home penniless and deeply ashamed.
Later, Benjamin Siegel and Lansky are eyeing the Irish-American boy who operates the craps game. Lansky makes his bet, and as he's throwing the dice, the owner's friend slides him some dice. Certain that the game is rigged, Lansky shouts that he has won the bet. The Irish boy pushes at the young Lansky, Lansky pushes him back, and then the teenager's friend slides out his knife and cuts Lansky's arm. Siegel come into the scene and hits the knife-wielding kid with a brick, shouting at him to give him the money. As Lansky and Siegel are walking down the docks they see the Irish kid who bet against them in the alley. The Irish kid is shouting Irish words about him being Jewish. Lansky jumps into the sea where the Irish kid is hanging about, Lansky then goes under water and slits the Irish kid's neck.
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Wikipedia