Underdeveloped and slow...feels like a Terrence Malick film

Rating: 4/10 (3 October 2009)

I must say that I am quite surprised that this film has an average score of 7.5 out of 10. Apparently today's movie going audience has fairly low standards on what they expect to see in a film with this kind of star power and budget. Given the acting talent and directing talent behind this film, one would think that they could have spent more money on a coherent script with a focused beginning, middle, and end. Let us not forget that the most important part of any film is the quality of its story (i.e. the script). Yes, having great actors, directors, and special effects can help, but without a good story they simply won't be able to do much.
My main problem with this film is simply that it does not have a coherent story for the audience to follow. It is supposedly based on the true story of Dillinger's life, yet normally in these types of biopics/docudramas there are dates at the bottom of the screen every 10 minutes or so to not only let the audience know that the event truly happened, but also give us a timeline of the events so we can feel things progressing towards a 3rd act. In many ways this film is lacking a 1st act; it simply starts with Dillinger escaping from a prison and then we see him robbing banks for most of the film. This film would have benefited immensely from having the first 15 minutes or so focus on his youth and early years, allowing us to see why he chose this line of profession and therefore allowing us to sympathize with him. Instead, we never really sympathize/care about either Dillinger or Purvis (Bale's boring, one-dimensional nemesis) because we know nothing about them.
This film also never really feels like it is going anywhere in its 2nd or 3rd acts. There is no rising action or any suspense leading up to any kind of 3rd act showdown. Compare this with the way the story in American Gangster is told, a much better cops and gangsters film. We see the private lives and motivations of both Crowe and Washington in the beginning, then as the film goes on we can see how they are eventually going to meet up late in the film, and when they finally do the last 20 minutes or so of the movie is simply exhilarating. The middle section of this film just has no plot. Dillinger's girlfriend disappears from the film for about an hour, then ends up playing a large role at the end? WTF? I started noticing just how incoherent the story was during the 10 minute long shootout scene at that cabin up in Wisconsin. While I watched the film I started to notice just how long that action scene was going on for, and it sure appeared that Mann was just trying to shower us with gunfire so we might forget that the movie had no story. It worked for about 10 minutes, as that scene is quite entertaining, but the other 2 hours of the film simply don't add up.
I know that Michael Mann is a talented filmmaker, and I know that he is too smart to make a boring movie intentionally. That being said, this movie's slow pace and lack of story made it feel like a Terrence Malick film...the New World comes to mind! Lots of cool, crisp visuals, the characters are always acting in the present moment, but no suspense or interest in plot whatsoever! I think Mann was aiming to make it like a Terrence Malick film...more of a poetic, artsy feel. If you love those kinds of films then you'll like this, but I think the New World is a good sleeping pill!