Not Michael Mann's finest hour

Rating: 4/10 (13 July 2010)

This film is too busy and choppy. I'm a huge Michael Mann fan but this film's various story lines do not arc smoothly together for one. The choice of camera movement is also strange. On the one hand the camera is steady and flows, then there are the hand-held moments that inexplicably have the feeling of a home movie. Then there's the issue of the characters not being properly developed (another aspect of it being too busy). The casting is well-done but Cotillard doesn't fit in. Though she does look a lot like Billie Frechette, her French accent is too noticeable and though she tries to hide it by changing her tone, it doesn't quite work. I think this could have been a better effort if it had been done, not as a movie, but a mini-series.