Billy Bathgate (1991)
1h 46m | PG-13
In the year 1935, a teen named Billy Bathgate finds first love while becoming the protégé of fledgling gangster Dutch Schultz.
Director: Robert Benton
Studio: Touchstone Pictures
Genre: Crime
Video: 720p
Cast
Loren Dean
as Billy Bathgate
Dustin Hoffman
as Dutch Schultz
Nicole Kidman
as Drew Preston
Bruce Willis
as Bo Weinberg
Steve Buscemi
as Irving
Stanley Tucci
as Lucky Luciano
Reviews
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.