Netflix review: Dillinger

So for those keeping track at home, 'very long wait' on the Netflix queue is about a month so not too bad. After seeing Public Enemies its opening week, I guess I wasn't the only one who wanted to see other movies about infamous bank robber John Dillinger so it took a little while for 1973's Dillinger to become available. And let me say this, it was well worth the wait.

The story focuses exclusively on Dillinger and his year-plus rampage through the Midwest with his gang. Nothing new here if you know the history, and for those who don't there's some helpful subtitles to guide you along with locations and dates. As Dillinger becomes Public Enemy No. 1 for the FBI, top agent Melvin Purvis leads the hunt to bring him in and if need be, kill him off. While director John Milius plays fast and easy with the historical facts at times, it's never enough to take away from the story.

'Dillinger' can't help but be compared with this summer's Public Enemies, but there are enough differences to set them apart. I'll start off with the obvious, the casting. Typically playing a supporting character, and usually knocking those roles out of the park, character actor Warren Oates gets a rare shot at the lead role. He plays Dillinger as a man who is fully aware of his reputation and tries to live up to it. Oates' Dillinger revels in the fame and popularity he's gained, refusing to escape to Mexico with $70,000 because 'what would his fans think?' But even with a bigger than life persona, Oates brings a humanity to the role much like Johnny Depp does. It's a great performance from Oates, and it is always nice to see a character actor get a shot at the spotlight. He handles both the dramatic scenes, like John's relationship with Billie Frechette (Michelle Phillips in her first starring role), and then the action/bank robbing scenes.

As his opposite, Ben Johnson plays FBI agent Melvin Purvis. Other than the obvious age differences, Johnson is 55 here and Purvis was 30-31 during the time frame, the casting works. This isn't the historically accurate Purvis with Johnson putting his own spin on the character. In real life, the FBI agent in charge of the Midwest struggled early on in the hunt for any number of high-profile crooks. Here it's the polar opposite, Johnson's Purvis is an experienced, veteran agent who knows how to get the job done, promising to smoke a cigar over the dead body of each of the crooks he's hunting down. And just for some odd movie connections, five years prior Oates and Johnson played brothers in Sam Peckinpah's The Wild Bunch but find themselves here trying to kill each other.

One significant improvement in the 1973 movie is the attention given to the rest of the Dillinger gang. We learn about them, see their interactions among the group, and get to know them. And while Oates plays the lead well, his Dillinger doesn't have a huge amount of screentime with the supporting cast, including the gang, getting their fair share too. The list includes an impressive grouping of 70s character actors that should make any movie fan smile. Harry Dean Stanton and Geoffrey Lewis play Homer Van Meter and Harry Pierpont, two key members of the gang, with Steve Kanaly and Richard Dreyfuss giving support as Pretty Boy Floyd and Baby Face Nelson. All four actors bring a humanity to their parts, something easier said than done when considering these weren't exactly God-fearing folks. Even Cloris Leachman has a brief part as Anna Sage, the lady in red, who helped betray Dillinger.

With the caliber of actors that 'Dillinger' boasts, it makes everything else fall into place. When the gang does start to ultimately meet their ends, I was surprised by how moving the scenes were. You're hit with these crazy amounts of action with BARs and Thompson submachine guns going off and then these shocking scenes of death, often shot so quickly it can be hard to catch. It's Kanaly as Pretty Boy Floyd that stands out in his final scene, talking with an old couple on their farm about his sins.

It is those scenes where the movie shines. From the shootout at Little Bohemia until Dillinger's death, about the last 35-40 minutes of the movie are about as perfect as they could be. The Little Bohemia shootout (<----check it out there, SPOILERS obviously) is loud, chaotic and bloody and stands out as the best scenes in the movie. It's in the aftermath as the gang gets away that the members start to get picked off, leading up to Dillinger's death outside the Biograph Theater in Chicago. In directing a movie that most people know the story of at least somewhat, Milius really brings the year-long spree to life. The feel of the Depression-era in the mid 1930s is brought to life with period cars, clothing, music and weapons. There's an artsy quality to certain shots as Milius lets the camera linger on the aftermaths of certain shootings that could have been out of place but fit seamlessly into the story. I was surprised by how much I enjoyed 'Dillinger' especially Oates in the lead, the chaotic gunbattles, and the supporting cast. Just beware of the 'very long wait.'

Dillinger <----trailer (1973): *** 1/2 /****