Dillinger
1945. Not Rated, 70 minutes.
Director: Max Nosseck. Starring Lawrence Tierney, Edmund Lowe, Anne Jeffreys, Eduardo Ciannelli.
The rise and fall of real-life bank-robber John Dillinger. At only 70 minutes, it sets a fairly frenetic pace. Still, we get to see John grow into the leader of his bank robbing gang by becoming increasingly ambitious and ruthless. It’s an entertaining crime story that would’ve benefited from some fleshing out. The acting is solid and the action comes fast but the characters are almost universally flat. We see some character development with John but it’s a predictable arc. The opportunity for a great female character is missed by not further exploring Helen’s (Jeffreys) feelings and motivations for her ultimate act more deeply. However, given the era it was made it’s par for the course that the bad guy is thoroughly bad and his girl is a little underwritten even though she plays a major role in how things turn out.
SCORE: 6.5/10
Dillinger
1973. Rated R, 109 minutes.
Director: John Milius. Starring Warren Oates, Ben Johnson, Michelle Phillips, Harry Dean Stanton.
The rise and fall of real-life bank-robber John Dillinger. This isn’t a remake of the 1945 film of the same name but a re-telling of the same legend. Both films, it should be noted, play fast and loose with the facts. At least this version has sense enough to include Melvin Purvis, the G-Man that was always hot on Dillinger’s heels. Both he and Dillinger are presented as tough-talking and ruthless. It just so happens they work on opposite sides of the law. Though this version is roughly 40 minutes longer than its predecessor it manages to pale in comparison in terms of character development. Everyone in the movie remains exactly as they were the first time they appear on screen. New characters also keep getting introduced until the whole thing just feels like role-call. Sadly, even John is unchanged. He’s already well entrenched as a major crime figure when the movie starts. The lone possible exception to this is John’s girl, Billie (Phillips). However, her change of heart is butchered and rendered unbelievable. By the way, her change comes early in the movie and it’s from fearing him to loving him in an instant, so I’m not ruining anything. That said, this is by far the more intense of the two films. Many of the gang’s bank robberies end in large-scale, graphically shown shootouts and car-chases that are still fantastic to watch. There’s blood splattering everywhere, pedestrians get run over by getaway cars and just all around expertly created mayhem.
SCORE: 7/10
Public Enemies
2009. Rated R, 140 minutes.
Director: Michael Mann.
Starring Johnny Depp, Christian Bale, Marion Cotillard, Billy Crudup.
Plot: FBI man Melvin Purvis (Bale) hunts America’s most wanted man, bank robber John Dillinger (Depp). Based on a true story.
The Good: The movie does a nice job juxtaposing Purvis’ determined pursuit with Dillinger’s arrogance. Depp really pulls off the smugness of a man who really believes he’ll stay one step ahead of the authorities, even as their bullets whiz by his head. It becomes a riveting cat and mouse. While Depp is very good, Jason Clarke who plays his sidekick Red Hamilton is excellent, stealing scene after scene with subtle wisdom and strength. It’s the type of performance that may go unnoticed but gives Dillinger and the movie as a whole a backbone. True to his reputation, director Michael Mann films some of the most exciting shootouts in the business. Aside from the visuals during these scenes, the sound mixing is superior and adds to the feeling of danger. That might sound a bit technical but when you hear that each weapon makes a different sound and hear bullets ripping apart a tree as someone hides on the other side it brings you to the edge of your seat.
The Bad: Melvin Purvis has proven to be problematic. Russell Crowe’s Richie Roberts from American Gangster or even Al Pacino’s Vincent Hanna from Michael Mann’s own Heat should’ve been the template followed. Those guys were very well developed human beings that were driven and flawed. We could relate to them. Bale’s Purvis is just a stiff “good guy.†We get what he’s trying to do and even why but he’s not real enough to draw us into his side of story. This is especially apparent because Dillinger is so dynamic a personality and dominates the movie. Finally, in between those gorgeous shootouts the movie didn’t look as good as it should have. Portions of it, especially early in the film suffer from the camera being too close to its actors. It may have been done, in order to give certain characters a big reveal a scene or two after they actually appear but it just feels like shoddy cinematography.
The Ugly: Goobers. Yup, a piece of one of the chocolate covered peanuts I was eating when down the wrong pipe and induced a coughing fit that caused me to flee the theater for the nearest water fountain and miss a couple minutes in the middle. I think the lady next to me was both mortified that I might be dying and relieved that I managed not to cough on her.
Recommendation: This is definitely one for fans of gangster flicks and crime dramas in general. Its an exciting two and a half hours that Depp carries quite well. But while it is very enjoyable and likely to be one of the better films of the summer, it’s flaws are enough to keep it from being great.
The Opposite View: Lou Lumenick, New York Post
What the Internet Says: 7.7/10 on imdb.com (7/20/09), 65% on rottentomatoes.com, 70/100 on metacritic.com
MY SCORE: 7.5/10
BTW, Ugly #2: Stephen Dorff, who once seemed to have a promising career is a glorified extra. It took me half the movie to be sure that it was, in fact, him I was seeing.
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