A mostly dull TV docudrama with big name stars and nothing more

Rating: 6/10 (3 September 2014)

(54%) The big question here is why isn't this movie better than it actually is? Because with Depp, Bale, and Mann combined this should be a great movie, but as a matter of opinion it hardly makes it to the levels of a good movie, which is quite a disappointment in my books. Bale is hardly ever on screen, and when he is there isn't anything for him to do, even Depp is fed crumbs from a script that ambles along in circles making the ruthless Dillinger seem almost dull. The bank robbery and prison break scenes are almost identical to each other, and are quite poor compared to the ones in the fantastic "Heat", as the direction is slack and more than a little distracting from the far from gripping events on-screen. Worst of all though is the uncanny feel that much of the movie has to a TV docudrama. I almost expected a staged interview to pop up between scenes and a talk about 1930's organised crime to happen. So the performances are muted from the biggest stars of the production, the direction is below par for even an average film maker, and the script sucks the life from a criminal that shook America. On a plus side the scene when Dillinger enters the police headquarters and has a look round is a highlight and is certainly the best part of the whole movie. But this is still a reasonably big misfire and a let-down from a promising looking flick.