Billy Bathgate

CinemaSerf 2/9/2023 2:17:08PM 8.4

Dustin Hoffman is "Dutch" an aspiring gangster in 1930s New York's City. Together with the business savvy "Otto" (Steven Hill) and a little help from the suave "Bo" (Bruce Willis) he sets out to carve out an empire for himself. Along the way, "Otto" alights on the keen youngster "Billy" (Loren Dean) who soon becomes a part of their operation discovering that there is a life of wealth and opportunity to be had, but that life has it's dark, violent and dangerous side too. What now ensues is authentic looking, flash cars and spiv suits - but the actual execution of the story is really very dull. Willis appears only briefly (though I really did like his footwear) and Nicole Kidman offers the romantic interest for both Hoffman and Dean for a while. The narrative is disjointed. The film flows like glue with too many short, episodic, scenarios that lack any sense of peril or menace, before an ending that though historical fact is really underwhelming. Nobody's finest hour, this film.