Let’s face it.  Johnny Depp and Christian Bale are probably the two most sought-after actors in Hollywood these days, and the idea of them pinned against each other in a 1930′s gangster flick is an idea worthy of a very appreciative orgasm.  Especially one about John Dillinger.  Personally, I wasn’t so excited that it was two of the greatest actors of this generation, but because it was about John Dillinger.  If you’ve heard of a metal band named The Dillinger Escape Plan, you’re automatically interested because the movie is, literally, about John Dillinger Escaping.  I was highly interested in seeing the movie based on the guy that one of my all-time favorite metal bands based their name on (did’ja follow?).

The movie was…confusing.  Not the story-line, but the overall production.  Especially coming from such the guy that directed The Aviator.  The movie progressed particularly slowly, and it lasted probably a good hour too long.  The cinematography is amazing at times, and others looks absolutely terrible.  The audio quality of the gunshots are loud and blasting one second, and then another gun will go off and it seems muffled and shapeless.  The reasons being that Michael Mann made the bold move of filming half the movie with film, the other half digitally with a handheld HD camcorder.  He did this to give a more authentic feel to the movie so that it gives the audience a more personal feel.  However, this was to his fault.

The movie through the HD camcorder, though impressively sharp, makes the movie look like a direct-to-dvd skinflick.  It’s shaky, there’s no depth in the imagery, and it makes the make-up on the actor’s uncomfortably noticeable.  Christian Bale looked like a wax figure of himself.  I don’t want to pay ten bucks for a movie that looks like I could have used cameras within my own budget.

The acting, on the other hand, was absolutely superb.  Johnny Depp and Christian Bale, though in the same scene together such a few number of times, work incredibly well together.  Every actor in this movie did an amazing job (not counting the interrogation scene between a police officer and Dillinger’s girlfriend played by Marion Cotillard, what the fuck accent is she using in that scene?).  Not only was the acting amazing in this movie, but the costumes and scenery made you believe they flew back in time and filmed it in the actual time period.   It was astounding.

Obviously, I have very mixed feelings about this movie.  So much of it was good, yet so much of it was utterly frustrating.  Hence, the 3 out of 5.  It’s not literally in the middle, but 3 is usually my middle-ground rating.  I recommend this movie when it comes out on DVD and/or Blu-Ray, because it’s certainly an interesting watch.  But, when it comes down to it, you’ll more than likely only watch it one time just to say you watched it.  This is definitely not a movie you’ll be raving about and wanting to see on multiple occasions (unless it’s on HBO and Starz is playing absolute shit).