Crime doesn't pay

Rating: 6/10 (3 August 2009)

The expression is as trite as this movie. Dillinger thought he was smarter than the G-men and he wasn't even though it wouldn't have taken much. There is no new insight into what drives a person to a life of crime, though Johnny Depp does try to infuse some humanity into the empty script he's given.
I think the script is the main problem here. Depp does what he can, but Marion Cotillard is heroic, making a real person emerge from the zilch she is given in the script.
Big actors filled many of the minor parts -- Billy Crudup shows a side of J. Edgar Hoover (the young side) that we haven't seen before. Somebody should make a film of Ken Ackerman's Young J. Edgar Hoover and let Crudup develop his characterization.
The digital filming shows us the future of cinema. True, the action tended to blur, but the clarity, depth and sharpness of many scenes takes your breath away.