"I'm John Dillinger, I rob banks"

Rating: 8/10 (4 July 2009)

Being a huge fan of Micheal Mann's previous bank-robber film Heat, as well as Johnny Depp and heist movies in general, I was very excited for this film. I must say in some ways I was quite satisfied, but in others I was disappointed.
All in all, it was an exciting film with exciting action, some very well done scenes, and great acting all-around, but it somewhat suffered in the plot and character development.
The movie's main character pretty much sums up the structure of this film about 20 minutes or so into it: "I'm John Dillinger, I rob banks." The film altogether is more or less that straight forward. Director Micheal Mann really doesn't beat around the bush. The film just kind of goes from one event to the next, without really a lot of build-up or development.
The action in the beginning of the movie is well directed but it moves by quickly, and doesn't really give you a lot of time to get into the scenes. However, as the film went on, I found I started to get into it much more. As John Dillinger's character started to unfold a little, I began to really get into Johnny Depp's performance. He does an excellent job as the cocky, straight-forward, cool-headed gangster. The other gangsters in his entourage are perhaps not given enough screen time or development but they are interesting characters and also well-acted, and Oscar winner Marion Coutillard is of course fantastic as Dillinger's love interest. This all begins to show more and more as the film goes on. On the other hand, Christian Bale's character as the federal agent on Dillinger's tale is a little bit dull. This may not be his fault, though, as much as the script's. His character really doesn't have a whole lot to work with but he does a good job with what he's given.
The middle section of the film also consists of some top-notch shootout sequences. While I had hoped for a little bit more suspense and build-up, one thing I was looking forward to in this film was a whole lot of guys blasting away at each other with tommy guns, and in that department in delivers. One thing Micheal Mann certainly knows how to direct is a good shoot-out, as well as a very good break-out scene. The action does start to lose momentum towards the end, but there are a lot of good dramatic moments throughout.
One thing that kind of bothered me about the film was camera work. Micheal Mann seems to use a lot of what appears to be hand-held camera, as well as a lot of very close-up shots, which in some scenes are effective, but often makes the film feel somewhat claustrophobic. I also don't feel that the period was used to it's fullest extent. This film is set in the depression era, which has a very distinctive atmosphere, which in turn has a very distinctive charm, which can often compliment a film. To me, that atmosphere and charm really didn't shine through as much as it should have. This is probably mostly due to the claustrophobic camera work. The characters are always the center of attention, never the setting. This has it's merits, as the characters are what move along the action of the film, but often times a setting is as much as a character as the people. In a depression-era film, you need to see the depression a little more distinctly. In a bank-heist film, the bank itself needs a little bit of extra attention. You rarely actually get a very good look at where you are, just who's there and what's going on. It works for moving along the plot, but it leaves you wanting just a little more.
All in all, this film was quite enjoyable, very well acted, and in many parts quite exciting and action-packed, but it should have been better and certainly will not be winning best picture. Still, I'm sure any fan of gangster movies or of Johnny Depp will enjoy it.