Good try, but no cigar.

Rating: 6/10 (10 July 2009)

If John Dillinger was even half as brutal as depicted in this movie, then Johnny Depp was the wrong actor for this role. As a 1930s period piece, the movie is excellent, but that cannot be said for the story itself because the movie attempts to portray the lead character, John Dillinger, and his friends as deserving of some empathy which is entirely disingenuous. They were in fact, violent, brutal criminals who were practically asking for what they finally got. So how can one be expected to care about them? Further, Dillinger and his friends are incorrigible but there is no explanation for their aberrant behavior, leaving one to wonder why they were so violent. Not offering any explanation, the movie becomes just another cops and robbers story, but with one big difference: there are no good guys, thus depriving the audience of even that satisfaction of having somebody to root for. Johnny Depp must be given lots of credit for taking on a role that is way out of character for him, but his portrayal simply fails to project the mean-spirited, menacing nature of a man who whose very name is synonymous with crime.
Although Johnny Depp is a wonderful, gifted actor, when it comes to his portrayal of John Dillinger, he is no Warren Oates.