A biography of Milanese bank robber Renato Vallanzasca.
As turf wars with rival gangster Turatello escalate, it becomes increasingly hard to care about Vallanzasca or his cronies.
The screenplay – the work of six writers – offers little psychological insight or socio-political context for its subject’s crime sprees.
A slick, enthralling look at the life of Vallanzasca but fails to truly get under his skin.
Guns, money and hot Italians in hot Italian clothes.
Thick with the details of murders, kidnappings and scores of armed robberies, it's a slick narrative bursting with charisma and bloody action. What it isn't, however, is terribly truthful.
The film, like all gangster movies, gets off on glamour and guns, which initially makes it a thrill to watch...but the absence of genuine psychological insight becomes a problem.
But, while Vallanzasca is a towering presence in this story, literally every other character is fatally underwritten – colleagues, adversaries, his women.
The film is well made and acted although...this is one sub genre that's fast reaching saturation point.
Long dull and meaningless.
Good character development, terrible haircuts.
Spiky if uneven.
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