We are supposed to buy that DeNiro's character descended into madness, all without a compelling storyline to lead us there. What did we miss? It seems almost arbitrary that he decided upon a complete change to his character.

For what frustrates me about this film, we need look no further than the directorial choice of ending the climactic sequence by panning back through the aftermath of the scene, in a way that revealed no new information, all while blaring music that seemed to convey we were getting some eye-opening glimpse. I'd call it an odd choice, but that would imply some effort was exerted.

Even with my strong ardor for jazz music, noir moodiness and slow-burn filmmaking, a director shouldn't depend on that being enough to carry a viewer's interest.

But perhaps I'm too hard on someone who was still new in their career.