Soulless

Rating: 7/10 (15 January 2018)

Chicago, thirties of the last century. John Dillinger and the crew rob banks and with high-speed cars flee across state borders, escaping the police. The FBI is in its infancy and Hoover wants to build a reputation by catching Dillinger, a state enemy number one. Story is realistic, almost like documentary. Action scenes are well shot and from a technical standpoint film has no flaws. But, although it definitely isn't boring, it failed to pull me in. I was not tied to the characters, I wasn't rooting for either side, nor did I care about their fates. Johnny Depp, Christian Bale, Marion Cotillard, Jason Clarke, Stephen Graham and many other big names guarantee that trouble certainly doesn't lie in acting, but screenplay didn't left room for characterization. Characters are one-dimensional. Criminal is just a criminal, cop is just a cop, there's no background stories, no diverting from main course of the movie, no inner struggles, no emotions or depth. Just black and white and straight forward, like TV news. Though, here and there they inserted a couple of emotional moments, I guess in attempt to breathe some soul into the movie, but they only achieved needless pathetic that simply doesn't fit with the rest of it. Technically excellent film, but not essentially powerful.
7/10