Billy the Bore

Billy Bathgate (1991) – A teenage boy becomes the protégé of 1930s mobster Dutch Schultz. His life will become a series of betrayals and violence. Will he be able to chart a path through all the obstacles?

Directed by Robert Benton

Starring Dustin Hoffman, Nicole Kidman, Loren Dean, Bruce Willis, Steve Buscemi

Why I Liked It – Most of the cast is worth the watch.

What’s the fastest way to a guaranteed movie failure? Have an actor in the lead role that doesn’t connect with the character or the audience. There was plenty to work with here. Based on the best-selling novel of the same title, written by E. L. Doctorow. Doctorow and Tom Stoppard are credited with writing the screenplay (although the novelist distanced himself from the movie because it diverged so strongly from his book). Robert Benton was an Oscar-winning director, and the cast has more than enough talent for the story.

And yet, this movie is dull and unengaging. All roads to the answer of “Why” lead to the same answer: Loren Dean. The then 21-year-old actor did not have the chops to hang with his cast members or carry the title role. Billy Bathgate lives at the lowest socioeconomic levels of mid-1930s New York. He identifies the gangster Dutch Schultz as a possible escape from poverty and takes a chance. Billy impresses the gangster, who takes the kid on as a project. In the blink of an eye, Billy has more money than he ever imagined, with fortunes laid out before him. Dean has to make Billy an interesting character facing compelling moral, legal, and personal challenges.

It never happens.

The production had a string of challenges, according to legend. Hoffman and Benton fought constantly. Kidman reports being mistreated by Hoffman as well. The movie ran over its expected budget and took a bath at the box office. Hoffman, Benton, Kidman, and Doctorow have little good to say about the movie.

Sometimes a movie is a failure on first release, but becomes a beloved hit (like the 1971 “Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory” as an example). Even time has not improved this movie. There is some interesting stuff here, and the cast is worth a look. But the movie remains nothing worth getting excited about.

Rating – ** Not Impressed