Billy Bathgate (1991)

Director:

Robert Benton

Writers (WGA):

E.L. Doctorow (book)
Tom Stoppard (screenplay)

Release Date:

1 noviembre 1991 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama

Frase comercial:

A seductive look at a notorious gangster's dazzling and decadent empire about to crumble.

Plot:

In the 1935, fifteen year old street hustler Billy Bathgate becomes the protege of fledgling gangster Dutch Schultz and begins a love affair with a flighty moll.

Plot Keywords:

Box Office Flop | 1930s | Gangster | New York | Female Nudity

Awards:

Nominated for Golden Globe.

Comentarios de los usuarios:

Misunderstood: A "Male Movie"

Cast

Dustin Hoffman	...	Dutch Schultz
Nicole Kidman	...	Drew Preston
Loren Dean	...	Billy Bathgate
Bruce Willis	...	Bo Weinberg
Steven Hill	...	Otto Berman
Steve Buscemi	...	Irving
Billy Jaye	...	Mickey
John Costelloe	...	Lulu
Timothy Jerome	...	Dixie Davis (as Tim Jerome)
Stanley Tucci	...	Lucky Luciano
Mike Starr	...	Julie Martin
Robert F. Colesberry	...	Jack Kelly
Stephen Joyce	...	Mr. Hines
Frances Conroy	...	Mary Behan
Moira Kelly	...	Becky

También conocida como:

Billy Bathgate (Argentina) (Spain) [es]

Duración:

106 min

País:

USA

Idioma:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sonido:

Dolby

Clasificación:

Netherlands:16 | Canada:18A (Ontario) | Argentina:18 | Australia:M | Chile:18 | Finland:K-16 | Germany:16 | Spain:18 | Sweden:15 | USA:R | Iceland:16

Filming Locations:

Durham, North Carolina, USA

Company:

Touchstone Pictures

Trivialidades:

Then Disney head Jeffrey Katzenberg opted to produce this gangster epic instead of Warren Beatty's Bugsy (1991) as he figured Beatty's film was too expensive at $40 million. This movie ultimately came in at $50 million and grossed a mere $15 million on its American release.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Billy and Becky are first seen on the roof in long shot she is exhaling smoke; in the close-up immediately after, she doesn't have a cigarette.

Quotes:

Billy Bathgate: You think Mr. Shultz is an ordinary man, Mrs. Preston, but you're wrong! He's a maniac!

Soundtrack:

Bye Bye Blackbird

Misunderstood: A "Male Movie"

In a time when gangster films were becoming witty, stylish, and bloody (ie, Reservoir Dogs), a film like Billy Bathgate was ill timed. I've read the comments index here, and it seems as if everyone missed the point entirely. Several people showed their immaturity and daftness in over-emphasizing Nicole Kidman's nude scene, which certainly wasn't a major plot point, or anything more than window dressing (if there's a scene in here that she should be noted for, it's the cross-eyes dinner sequence). Just a shot at pulling in people who put "see so-and-so naked" at the top of their list of movie viewing priorities. Ms. Kidman is probably the Meryl Streep of my generation, and it's a great shame to me that very few people can appreciate her beyond taking off her clothes. Yes, one of the things she can boast is revolutionizing the sex/love scene (compare one of hers, to, say for example, the completely classless anal-sex romp between Halle Berry and Billy Bob Thornton in "Monster's Ball"); but she shouldn't be judged on that merit alone, which, sadly, she is.

Moving on, though, as she isn't the only pillar of this film.

As another reviewer here commented, many so-called "errors" in the story aren't errors at all, but rather the messiness of true-life. The seemingly out of place barbershop murder and the film's abrupt finale don't fit just right because, in reality, things aren't always wrapped up neat. The same can be said for the (at the time) weird end of "Bonnie and Clyde;" no one was expecting a film to end with the two protagonists suddenly going down in a hail of bullets, but, hey, that's the way the world turns. So it is with "Billy Bathgate."

"Billy Bathgate" is a case of damned if you do, damned if you don't. It certainly wouldn't have been what it is without the actors present; but, graphic language and nudity aside, the film itself is more at home amongst the old-style gangster films of the 60's and early 70's, belonging with "Bonnie and Clyde," "Dillinger," and "Bloody Mama." It isn't flashy, like "Reservoir Dogs," or full of biting dialogue, like "Pulp Fiction." It doesn't have the artistic violence of "Road to Perdition," or the glamor of "Bugsy" (released around the same time as this film).

"Billy Bathgate" is a coming-of-age tale set against the backdrop of depression era Gangland New York and reinforced with history. This isn't really a story about Dutch Schultz; it's about William Bathgate and Drew Preston, who, either by choice or circumstance, become directly involved with the gangster. Here is the main misunderstanding; people judge this as a straight gangland flick, when in reality what you've really got on your hands is as pretty close as you'll get to a love story for males.

Think about it: Whereas women have their chick flicks, men simultaneously rely on gangster films as their emotional outlet. Women can vent by crying over romance and tragedy, men achieve euphoria through the male bonds and codes of honor prevalent in gangland films. Here you've got Billy Bathgate, the young street hood who becomes the apprentice to Dutch Schultz, failing gangster who's making enemies faster than he can make friends. He's idealistic and ambitious, two qualities males generally find positive in one another; men in the audience can relate to Billy. Just as a female reading romance novels can become the heroines, the males watching Billy Bathgate can become the title character. This is where the importance of Drew Preston comes in, and where Nicole Kidman's performance and character are, like many other components of the movie, misunderstood.

Preston isn't meant to be a terribly fleshed out character; she is the foil to Billy and his romantic (note, romantic, not sexual) fixation; thereby, she also becomes the romantic (note, once more, not sexual) fixation for the male viewer living vicariously through the Bathgate character. She is to this film what the stereotypical "blonde guy with muscles" is to the women's romance novel: an idealized (although not altogether impossible) version of a woman; a fantasy character who has roots in reality. It isn't likely most young men like Billy will find a slightly older, more experienced woman like Preston to "guide them into manhood," as it is, but it isn't impossible either. Looking past their macho posing and breaking down the emotional barriers, what guy like Billy wouldn't want to have a young love such as Drew Preston ("I'm not his girl, he's my gangster")? Sexy, fun (perfectly summed up in the cross-eyes sequence), and, because of her learnedness and willingness to give in her relationship with Billy, devoid of the clumsiness of inexperience.

If you go into "Billy Bathgate" expecting shooting and mob rule, you will, like most other people here, be disappointed. Taking into account the points I have made here, though, you should enjoy it far more.