The directing debut of John Milius begins marvellously, with Dillinger (Warren Oates) robbing a bank. The script is full of brisk dialogue and interesting scenes and Oates is ideal in the cast. Milius the director isn't up to Milius the writer - often the scenes are stagnant, especially the action scenes, which have too much gunfire. He should have moved the camera about a bit more. Some actors give spark to their scenes, especially Richard Dreyfuss as Baby Face Nelson and Cloris Leachman as the lady in red. Pretty Boy Floyd is treated very sympathetically, far more so than Melvin Purvis (Ben Johnson, who is a little stiff). The film appears to pay effort to historical truth. There is a creepy love scene between Oates and Michelle Phillips where they slap each other around.
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