Very poor character by Johnny Depp and weak storytelling

Rating: 3/10 (15 April 2010)

Did you see "Dillinger", the movie from 1973? No? Well, that's the one you ought to see, not this fancy fabricated Hollywood soap opera.
Johnny Depp fails completely in giving a strong and convincing portrait of the arrogant, extroverted, hot shot gangster named Dillinger. He is simply not the guy for such a role. To tell you the truth, I had the impression he didn't even try very hard and was permanently making an effort not to do one of those grimaces à la Jack Sparrow. Compared to Warren Oates, who masterly played Dillinger on "Dillinger", Depp seems to be a frightened schoolboy with a dirty nose. On the other hand, I believe that Christian Bale made a much better job in grasping the essence of the not less extravagant FBI agent Melvin Purvis.
I do like Michael Mann, his slow pace and his organic camera work. Nevertheless, he was never capable of portraying a strong Dillinger, who seemed more like a second rate bank robber instead of the public enemy Nr.1 that he really was. Of course, Depp's acting only strengthened this lack of strength. Mann was also incapable of providing a solid overview of the strained sometimes charismatic relation Dillinger developed towards society and police. Every attempt to do so fell too thin. As a viewer, I could not help asking myself "oh, so this is the famous Dillinger mmmm"
At the last big shooting scene, which takes place at night, Mann decides to introduce the B movie effect, as to try to place the viewer inside the war arena. Well, in my opinion, it not only felt very forced and unnatural, but it totally collided with the way he had been filming. Personally, I did not enjoy this sudden touch.
Not a good movie unfortunately.