I had hoped for so much more!

Rating: 7/10 (2 July 2009)

My wife and I saw it last night and we both agree that it was less than we had hoped for. I got into a disagreement with another poster here about the use of HD. He said it automatically made the film substandard. I argued that there was basically no difference (in fact, I have never even thought to look at which is which). I still say, that for the most part, HD video is equal to film... most viewers would never see the difference. But I will now agree that this film would have been better if shot on film. Why? Because it could actually have benefited by a bit of grain. It would have helped it fit into the period. So much attention was paid to costumes, etc. The film should have looked "gritty" which it didn't. The real problem, IMHO, about the use of HD video was the guerrilla (sp?)style of hand held cameras. I hate this technique. I think that hurt the film tremendously. And when you shake a camera, especially an HD one, you really see the shake. Had the film been shot more with steady cam and perhaps a bit of sepia tinting, the HD part would have been fine.
Now to the movie... it was not well defined in any aspect. They didn't go deep enough into any character to more fully understand the motives they expressed. There was little connection with the viewer and the characters. I could see that Dillenger loved Billie but she was the only one who showed any real emotion in that regard. We didn't see them falling in love, just hearing him say that he did. Pervis looked angry all the time, but we don't know why. We suspect it might be because the gangsters killed (F)BI men, but that's only a guess. J. Edgar Hoover will go down in history for being a real strange character and that fact was touched on in the film, but very little.
In general, it seemed that no part of the story was carried deep enough. I expect that Mann likely shot several hundred hours of video and I also suspect that a 4 hour Director's cut might be a better film but in it's current form, this films lacks depth and definition. There were excessive bullets flying (well filmed) but even these action sequences seemed flat. The most emotional scene in the film **spoiler** was when the ***hole cop was hitting Billie to get info. That scene carried a lot of punch (no pun intended). But then it deflated since no dialog followed up on his behavior. Even the final scene where Billie is told what John said as he was dying was flawed by the character saying "I think that's what I heard". I realize it was probably done that way to assure accuracy but it left the audience wondering "is that what he really said or is that just a guess?". And if were are trying to stay accurate, do we really know that **spoiler** Dillinger walked through the Bureau's "Dillinger Division"? That seemed a bit far fetched. But if it's true, how do we know it? I had hoped for so much more. The acting was great. There were a lot of great performances, but actually too many. Who were all these people? Too many cops and robbers but we don't learn who most of them are. "Baby Face" Nelson's portrayal was a bit silly and even here, we don't learn enough about how those 2 infamous bank robbers hooked up or how they felt about each other. There was a lead up to the train robbery that looked promising, but then John got shot and that storyline went bye bye. Who was that guy? How often did Dillenger work with him. It was said in the film that all Dillinger's associations were dead. But this looked like his most important cohort. I don't think I ever heard his name mentioned.
The story was "murky", like a muddy pond. We know there are "big fish" in there, but we don't really know who they are, how many, where they came from, what they like to eat or why they swim the way they do. I feel unfulfilled.
I am a fan of Mann's work. I had hoped for and expected so much more. It might actually exist but on the cutting room floor. But overall, I am less that impressed with this year's most promising movie. Hopefully, Scorsese will fill in the void with "Shutter Island". 7/10 "I think that boy's cheese slid off his cracker" The Green Mile