Warren Oates walks like bank robber John Dillinger, he talks like Dillinger, he shoots like Dillinger, and he is one of the best things about "Dillinger." John Milius wrote and directed this 1973 action packed biopic about the infamous bank robber. It acknowledges Arthur Penn's "Bonnie and Clyde" a couple of times, but Milius' script is not as good as the eye-wow he shows us. The story may be familiar, it has been told on dozens of true crime documentaries. John Dillinger and his gang terrorized the Midwest with violent bank robberies. He was captured in Arizona, brought back to Indiana, and escaped from jail using a bar of soap carved into the shape of a gun and blackened with shoe polish. Hot on his trail was the FBI's Melvin Purvis (Ben Johnson), who made it his own personal vendetta to kill all of these criminals, smoking cigars over their dead bodies. The gang have their own loving bad girls to hunker down with, and Dillinger had prostitute Billie (Michelle Phillips). Dillinger was killed outside the Biograph Theater in Chicago while seen with the infamous lady in red, Anna Sage (Cloris Leachman). While "Bonnie and Clyde" was a historic entry in the crime film genre, I thought the film makers in that situation glorified the duo a little too often. "Dillinger" does the opposite, making the bank robber as mean as we imagine he was. Milius' efforts to portray Dillinger as a villain backfire, since we see him in the couple of years before his death, never finding out how he got in to crime in the first place. His family is briefly shown, but nothing comes from the scene. Milius throws us into Dillinger's exploits immediately, but without any background, there is not sympathy, empathy, and eventually interest involved with the man. The beginning of the film is an exercise in choppy editing and stiff scenes until we get to the actions sequences. It makes me wonder what was left on the cutting room floor. Ben Johnson plays a great Melvin Purvis, a wonderful character name if I didn't know the person existed in real life. While he should be our hero, Purvis is shown to be just as violent as Dillinger. Milius plays with us, with Purvis showing no mercy for some criminals, yet sparing others, without any kind of explanation. We know Purvis as well as we know Dillinger. What does Milius leave us with? Incredible shootout sequences. There is a giant gun battle at a house that takes forever and is worth every minute of film. The film is violent and does not flinch when it comes to showing the death and destruction done by both sides of the law. Milius' direction is good, and his fuzzy Depression era vistas are pretty to look at. The cinematography is great, as is the set design and costuming. The rest of the supporting cast is fine, and full of some recognizable names. Michelle Phillips is okay as Billie, although this moll type part is old hat. Harry Dean Stanton is funny as gang member Homer, his final scene is one of the best in the film. Cloris Leachman, then a recent Oscar winner, has just two scenes as Anna, I would have liked to see more. Oates is the best Dillinger ever portrayed on film. Tons of character actors populate the rest of the cast: Geoffrey Lewis, John P. Ryan, Steve Kanaly, Frank McRae, Richard Dreyfuss as Baby Face Nelson, all good. With "Dillinger," you get a mixed bag. On the one hand, you have incredibly violent shootouts that took many lives. On the other hand, you have no reason to care about these characters or their internal motivations. Maybe we know how Purvis felt about Dillinger after all.
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Movie Star Rating : 0 Read More
When schoolteacher Kieran Johnson discovers that his father was not a French sailor (as he had been led to believe) but rather an Irish farmer, he looks to his mother for answers. When she refuses to provide any, Kieran travels to Ireland.
Movie Star Rating : 5.7 Read More
This Canadian made comedy/drama, set in Hamilton, Ontario in 1954, is a sweet and - at times - goofy story that becomes increasingly poignant as the minutes tick by. It's the fictional tale of a wayward 9th grader, Ralph (Adam Butcher), who is secretly living on his own while his widowed, hospitalized mother remains immersed in a coma. Frequently in trouble with Father Fitzpatrick (Gordon Pinsent), the principal of his all-boys, Catholic school, Ralph is considered something of a joke among peers until he decides to pull off a miracle that could save his mother, i.e., winning the Boston Marathon. Coached by a younger priest and former runner, Father Hibbert (Campbell Scott), whose cynicism has been lifted by the boy's pure hope, Ralph applies himself to his unlikely mission, fending off naysayers and getting help along a very challenging path from sundry allies and friends.
Movie Star Rating : 6.8 Read More
An aging gangster, Fernand Naudin is hoping for a quiet retirement when he suddenly inherits a fortune from an old friend, a former gangster supremo known as the Mexican. If he is ambivalent about his new found wealth, Fernand is positively nonplussed to discover that he has also inherited his benefactor’s daughter, Patricia. Unfortunately, not only does Fernand have to put up with the thoroughly modern Patricia and her nauseating boyfriend, but he also had to contend with the Mexican’s trigger-happy former employees, who are determined to make a claim.
Movie Star Rating : 7.8 Read More
Doc, who has just moved to Cannery Row, realizes that the only entertainment is the brothel. There he meets the spunky Suzy and they fall in love, giving them both a renewed chance at life.
Movie Star Rating : 6 Read More
The true story of WWII's notorious Sobibor Nazi death camp, where a courageous inmate orchestrates and leads the escape of over 300 prisoners.
Movie Star Rating : 7.3 Read More
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Movie Star Rating : 6.6 Read More
When a young deli-counter clerk and general slacker in New Jersey accidentally saves a young woman from a serial rapist, he becomes convinced that his new role in life is to become a vigilante.
Movie Star Rating : 5.8 Read More
Hoping to put to rest years of unease concerning a past case, retired criminal investigator Benjamín begins writing a novel based on the unsolved mystery of a newlywed’s rape and murder. With the help of a former colleague, judge Irene, he attempts to make sense of the past.
Movie Star Rating : 8 Read More
Prepare yourself for the all too deadly future. Cash, the heroine of Cyborg 2, is living safe in the free zone. But not for long. Biomechanical problems are taking down her systems and a visit to a doctor in Silica confirms her worst fears. She is more then a marvel of cyborg technology. She is the first of her kind to become a creator-she is pregnant.
Movie Star Rating : 3.6 Read More
The proprietor of an ice-skating revue promotes a peanut-vendor at the show to a management position based on suggestions he made to improve the act of the show's star, who also happens to be the owner's wife. However, he soon begins to notice that his new manager is paying more attention to his wife than he believes is appropriate...
Movie Star Rating : 6.6 Read More
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