Not ready for prime time

Rating: 2/10 (11 July 2009)

This movie fails on two fronts: First, it is not a film which would draw you in as an historical documentation. Second, it wastes the talents of two brilliant actors as they did their best to portray the parts which were assigned to them.
I regret going to this movie, and can usually rationalize such regret, by thinking I'll get more out of it on DVD. I will NOT rent the DVD.
There was no way that anyone in the audience could rationally care about the life or death of any single character in this movie.
Briefly, here's your story: Once, America had bank robbers who enjoyed the admiration of the public. The country was suffering through the Great Depression (also not well developed in the movie), and banks were the enemies of the common man. These gangsters had (surprise!) a great proclivity for nasty violence. Oh, and they were pretty crude. As the FBI led the way in more intelligent and scientific crime analysis, it was more difficult to be a bank robber with the flamboyance of the era. So, many gangsters turned to less violent crimes which had more predictable cash flows-- centralized betting centers are but one example. The "new" gangster model put the "old" gangster models at risk. The bank robber had fewer allies in his old "family." So, Johnny Depp couldn't count on his gangster buddies who were modernizing their crime models. He felt forced to associate with the fewer (and stupider) people who remained in his profession.
A better FBI did the job against a smaller population of high profile bank robbers, because stupidity was a poor weapon to employ when you had no friends to protect and hide you.
Movie goers are obliged to wait for about 45 minutes while Johnny Depp weaves his way into his eventual demise.
Tedious and moderately entertaining.
If you are going to see great actors in a dreadful movie, this one is for you.