Gray's film has one of the most arresting, glorious looks of any period film in recent memory and it is propelled by crisp, snappy dialogue. The most remarkable thing about Gray's film, however, is how it takes these well-worn tropes - a naive immigrant, the hard life immigrants suffered in 1920s New York, the horrors of forced prostitution, and the lure of organized crime - and weaves them into an emotionally resonant work of true power and grace.