One of those movie experiences that is so good it makes you realize you've been grading everything else on a curve.

Worth seeing just to witness how winsome it is.

Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

Well acted, with a nice dual story going on, add in Nicole Kidman naked and hey.. this isn't bad at all!! Add in Dustin damn Hoffman as our lead gangster, and stuff is getting interesting!! Our main character however, is BILLY- a streetwise kid with a heart of gold that wants to see if he has a shot at making it big with Dutch - the guy who owns the neighborhood. Things are in transition for Dutch, and Billy is exposed to the pressures and pitfalls of running a criminal organization by falling in with Dutch.Enter Nicole Kidman- Dutch is smitten with her beauty, she's married but she has a thing for gangsters apparently...This has a lot of tension in the triangle between Mrs. Harrison (Nicole), Dutch (Dustin) And Billy.A cameo from Bruce Willis is a welcome counterpoint to the interpretation of Dutch, and you will recognize one of Dutch's henchmen from Fargo or Reservoir Dogs. ;-) I would have liked the ending to be a bit more elaborate but the ride there was pretty damn elaborate so it's all good.

Billy Bathgate is based on E.L. Doctorow's historical novel about New York in the Thirties. Doctorow also authored Ragtime and while this film isn't as gaudy and expensive as Ragtime, Billy Bathgate is an accurate recreation of the times of post Prohibition New York City.The main reason to see Billy Bathgate is the mesmerizing performance of Dustin Hoffman as Arthur Fleigenheimer better known as Dutch Schultz. It's a harrowingly accurate portrayal of Schultz who was every bit the hot tempered homicidal maniac Hoffman shows him as. It's very much along the lines of Vic Morrow's performance as Schultz in Portrait of a Mobster, but Hoffman is better. If you do a search on the web about Schultz and see a film, you'll find Dustin Hoffman looks quite a lot like him in real life.The film is seen through the eyes of its title character who is a young man from the Bronx played by Loren Dean. Schultz reigned supreme in the Bronx of the Jimmy Walker early Fiorello LaGuardia days. One can't forget that this was the Depression, there were no jobs to be had for young Billy of Bathgate Avenue and his gang. It's the reason we see them hanging around on the subway tracks outside Schultz's headquarters when Billy's juggling act catches the Dutchman's attention.Doctorow is true to gangland lore about why and how Schultz was done in. As you watch Hoffman's performance, these sudden fits of violence you can certainly understand why Lucky Luciano wanted to rid themselves of this problem.Part of Schultz's temper might have been bedroom performance. As heiress Nicole Kidman so aptly puts it to Billy, he's quite an ordinary man your Mr. Schultz. Also look for some really good performances in this excellent cast from Steven Hill as numbers cruncher Otto Berman, Tim Jerome as lawyer Dixie Davis, and Bruce Willis as the luckless Bo Weinberg. Kidman's not bad either as the immoral heiress who has affairs with gangsters for kicks.But Billy Bathgate really belongs to Dustin Hoffman, it's one of his best screen performances and should not be missed by anyone especially fans of Dustin.

How rare this movie is without a doubt. Why? I'll tell you. It's a rare time to see (Hoffman) as a gangster, a rare time to see a bad big production mafia movie at the 1990s, and a rare time to see a bunch of fine artists work in so much hatred for their jobs.. Or that what seemed eventually ! After watching I was thinking of so many silly remarks could be said about such a movie (Actually that was partly during the watching itself !) and the examples are endless : How it's one of the silliest crime movies I have ever seen, and this is a list you can find at it movies like (Mobsters) from the very same year as long as we're talking mafia. How the director (Robert Benton) managed to hide the shortness of (Hoffman) in front of (Nicole Kidman)'s very tall figure ?! How the great (Dustin Hoffman) delivered a very weak performance, even if you compared it to (Al Pacino)'s similar character at (Dick Tracy - 1990), putting in mind how it was close to caricature, and I mean (Pacino)'s character ! How this movie contained maybe the ugliest nude scene ever, and I'm not referring to the scenes of (Loren Dean) which were nude of any possible acting's talent ! Moreover, How it's a movie without any peculiarity unless for having the word "poor" all over everything, despite the huge 50 million budget !? How you'd feel all the time that some elements (or actors) are in the wrong place. And eventually How there is a strong strange sense of apathy like all the cast's members were hating what they were doing, or not convinced enough ! All in all if you watched this movie then it's a bad memory however forgettable, and if you didn't.. Then How lucky you are !

Mark Isham, of Windham Hill fame, has written a powerful, sweeping and moving score to accompany Robert Benton's gangster show, "Billy Bathgate", which unfortunately falls well short of that description.Although Benton tries hard, along with Dustin Hoffman, Loren Dean and the ever-gorgeous Nicole Kidman, all their talent just cannot make up for the complete lack of plot. Absolutely nothing really ever happens in this film, and Benton (who was so much more impressive with "Places in the Heart") can't quite keep us interested in young Billy's exploits for any length of time. Hoffman is good (when isn't he), though he never quite sits right as the cruel gangster Dutch Schultz. Isham's score is a must though, in yet another okay gangster film.Friday, May 8, 1992 - Hoyts Forest Hill Chase