David Ansen

“…. At the worst moments, Scorsese's strategy seems to consist of playing back old Hollywood scenes longer and louder than they've ever been done before.

“If you saw Lucky Lady, you might expect that Liza Minnelli is the shrillest of them all, but the surprise is her remarkably subdued performance. Indeed, she's so subdued she's frequently wiped off the screen by the super-charged DeNiro. The Minnelli moments you remember tend to be her solo turns--like the show-stopping Kander and Ebb set-piece called "But the World Goes Round" belted out in an empty recording studio. It's a pastiche of every Kander and Ebb number you've ever heard, and her voice has lost some of its range and strength, but it certainly delivers. I might have like her final "New York, New York" number better if she hadn't been clothed and choreographed as a carbon copy of her mother. This Judy/Liza nostalgia mongering has become too incessant and incestuous for comfort. Give the girl a break already!”

David Ansen
The Real Paper, date ?