Something sweet to get that “Star Trek” aftertaste out of your mouth: Michael Mann + one of America’s legendary outlaws = crazy delicious. Dillinger captured the public’s imagination because he used balls and ingenuity to get rich quick in the middle of a depression, which makes this flick fortuitously timed indeed. I’m not crazy about Depp in the lead role, having seen him in one too many Tim Burton movies at this point to completely escape the association, but he’s a good actor. Should be okay. Christian Bale as Melvin Purvis is a bigger problem. How did Mann resist the urge to cast someone nebbishy, like Steve Buscemi, as “Little Mel”? The contrast between a dashing criminal and the dorky lawman doggedly pursuing him should have been irresistible; instead he cast a guy whom everyone’s going to look at and think of Bruce Wayne. Ah well. If you liked “The Untouchables,” and pretty much everyone did, you should find something to like here.
Update: Belated exit question: Is this movie doomed to suffer due to unfavorable comparisons to “The Untouchables”?
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