Good as a docu-drama about a notorious bank robber

Rating: 7/10 (3 May 2011)

For a film this doesn't really have much soul to it or really pulls you into what is going on. But for a docu-drama this is done pretty well but has some flaws. I didn't really like the cinematography to this, I can see why Michael Mann went with this direction in order to seem more realistic and make the audience be part of what is going on. But I personally didn't find it effective and sort of looked cheap in some areas. So yeah didn't really like the camera work in this, it was like watching a expensive play instead of watching a movie. There also isn't much depth to this movie and doesn't really expand. However Johnny Depp did a fine job playing one of the most famous bank robbers in history. He really showed a lot of charisma in this movie and somewhat made his character likable because he played his character in a very charming and yet dangerous manner, also the way he carries himself. Christian Bale does a good job of playing Melvin Purvis, who is a FBI agent trying to track down Dillinger. Like Johnny Depp with Dillinger, Christian Bale really stood out in this as well but unfortunately the script didn't give his character a chance to give depth to his character. Even with the chase scenes and the shootouts, the movie felt mostly dry a lot of times. The love story in this is important to the story, but felt like it dragged the pacing of it all at times. This film would have been better if at least the characters had more depth to it, especially John Dillinger. He was just a cool and slick criminal and a bit of a hero to some degree and nothing was really menacing about his character. And didn't really feel like he was a bad guy at all sometimes because of the feel and direction the movie went with his character. "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford" did a better job with character development and direction even if it lacked action like this movie. This isn't one of the best movie of 2009 or anything like that, but it's still a watchable movie and is worth the time to check out.
7.6/10