Unsubtle

Rating: 3/10 (17 January 2010)

Overly dramatic and stylized account of Dillinger.
Too many unsubtle reaction shots and way too many close-ups. For example, when Dillinger is watching the movie, his reaction shot for a long time in close-up is shown to the ominous words of the actor he is watching.
Movie is badly harmed by its score, which is unoriginal and way over-scores and over-dramatizes key moments, constantly soaring and telegraphing emotions.
In between the over-dramatizations, there were a large number of gunfights followed by "meaningful" dying declarations.
To me, this movie seemed like an excuse for the actors to ham it up.
Cinematography had the shiny Mann style, but the framing was simplistic, with focus on only one thing, and anyway that style is not too credible in depicting the somewhat messy time period.