Once Upon a Time in Goatdog's Apartment

I had never seen Sergio Leone's 1984 epic Once Upon a Time in America, and I figured it was about time to remedy that four-hour gap in my movie knowledge. I got it from Netflix, and it came on two discs. One said "Disc One" on the envelope, and the other said "Disc Two." I pulled Disc Two out of its envelope, and sure enough, it was Disc Two.

I pulled "Disc One" out of the envelope and put it in, and bang! What a jarring beginning. No opening credits; the first shot of the bullet-riddled body of a gangster in a 1930s car, then a cut to Robert De Niro and James Woods walking to their car. De Niro tells Woods he has some blood on his pantleg. Wow! What a way to start a movie! In that brief scene, and in the subsequent car ride, you learn everything you need to know about these characters: they're capable of brutal murder; they're old friends but there are tensions between them; Woods wants to go big-time but De Niro doesn't want to mix with higher-level gangsters.

Yeah, I know. I should have figured out that something was wrong, especially with the lack of opening credits. But I wasn't confused about anything that was going on, so I figured that it was just the way Leone wanted it. Suffice it to say, after two hours, the closing credits started rolling. Netflix had sent me two copies of Disc Two, despite what the envelope advertised. But what an ending! I only hope the first half is as good.