‘Bugsy’ By Desson Howe Washington Post Staff Writer December 20, 1991

Director: Barry Levinson Cast: Warren Beatty; Annette Bening; Harvey Keitel; Ben Kingsley; Elliott Gould; Joe Mantegna; Bebe Neuwirth; Wendy Phillips; Richard Sarafian; Bill Graham Under 17 restricted Oscars: Art Direction; Costume Design Compare prices for this movie Find local video stores More movie shopping Save money with NextCard Visa

How else could you accept Warren Beatty as gangster Bugsy Siegel? Or ignore henchman Harvey Keitel's obviously false bald pate? Or buy British Ben Kingsley's New York-accented Meyer Lansky? Or take vampy Annette Bening any more seriously than, say, Jessica Rabbit?

There's usually an unbearably tanned matinee-idol self-awareness about Beatty. But in "Bugsy" he uses his presence to entertaining advantage. He comes alive in a way he didn't in "Dick Tracy." He ups the ante in every scene, sometimes talking at screwball speed, other times ranting and raving. Sometimes he'll just sweet-talk someone, then pull out a gun and kill 'em. But the murders are theatrical. They're just part of a delirious comic scheme.

The movie's about Beatty's harebrained obsessions. A partner of the notorious Siegel-Lansky-Luciano-Costello crime team, he's come to the West Coast to corner the racket market. But he falls for studio starlet Bening. The rest of his life becomes a lost weekend, with occasional visits back east to the wife and kids.

Oblivious to reality, headstrong Beatty bulldozes through obstacles at high speed. His opponents have no time to retaliate. Barging into a lavish Beverly Hills home, he offers to buy the house immediately.

It isn't for sale," protests the owner.

"Ah, sure it is," says Beatty waving his hand dismissively. He pulls out $60,000 (this is the 1940s, remember) and lays it down. "Does this bring you pleasure, Larry?" Beatty asks Larry the owner. "Oh my goodness, yes," says Larry.

Screenwriter James Toback and director Barry Levinson create some wonderful scenes full of surprises. In one, Beatty's problems come to a frenetic peak. At his New York home, he's trying to hold a quiet birthday party for his daughter, maintain a civil conversation with his estranged wife, keep paranoid tabs on Bening in California and ask his business partners for $1 million to build a nightclub for Bening in the middle of then-barren Las Vegas. The manic dreamer also informs his partners he's flying to Italy to assassinate Benito Mussolini.

"Come here," Kingsley tells him. Beatty approaches. "Did you ever hear of the Allied forces?" Kingsley asks him gently. "Why don't you leave it up to them?"

As Lansky, Kingsley heads a clutch of strong supporting performers, including Keitel and, surprisingly, Elliott Gould. As Beatty's sullen, tough-talking sidekick, Keitel is superbly insolent. He talks so down and dirty, your ears get smeared. Gould has one of the funniest roles in his patchy career, as a haggard, paunchy pal of Beatty's. Riding in the back of the car, while lovebirds Beatty and Bening duke it out upfront, he leans forward and says, "You two seem like a very happy couple. It's nice to see that."

Levinson was never one for narrative tightness. As with much of his previous work, "Bugsy" is a maze of episodes, a sprawling excuse for engaging human banter. Although the truth will inevitably catch up with Beatty -- especially concerning that expensive nightclub -- it's not entirely clear what the movie's about. But that's the kind of detail Beatty's Siegel wouldn't even worry about. Neither should you.

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