Warren Oates…one-of-a kind!
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Archived from the IMDb Discussion Forums — Dillinger
seanodtnp — 19 years ago(July 29, 2006 07:22 PM)
Dillinger just confirms what I've felt for a very long timeWarren Oates is one of the great actors -period- that American cinema has ever produced. He is cagey, dangerous, sly, sexy, narcissitic and fills the screen with a hard-edged charisma that belies his hardscrabble white trash Kentucky upbringing. Generations of actors have strived to bring this sort of menacing yet endearing persona to the screen yet few if any have pulled it off with the ease that Oates does. One craggy smile is all it takes. If the only the material and roles were better over the course of his too-short career. Pair Dillinger with Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia and you have two of the finest outlaw performaces the screen has ever seen.
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jfsandin — 19 years ago(October 11, 2006 01:49 PM)
Amen!!!
Not to mention The Wild Bunch.
There are a couple of smaller parts Warren Oates played that I enjoy especially though: the cruel-but-lovable captain Braddock of the "Astro Division" in Blue Thunder, and the ruthless miner of Ride the High Country. -
Petronius Arbiter II — 17 years ago(December 27, 2008 05:10 PM)
Oates or Depp? Depends what you're looking for.
Milius' "Dillinger" is a great entertainment, and a great work of fiction emphasis on
fiction.
"Public Enemies" will also take quite a few liberties with literal historical truth, but not nearly as many as "Dillinger" does.
More importantly, PE will emphasize the innocent-acting "good boy gone wrong" side of Dillinger's character, whereas Milius' film shows us a tough-as-nails hardened criminal; an elegant and eloquent thug, but a thug nevertheless.
In my estimation, the
real
John Dillinger was roughly 1/4 to 1/3 of the way between Michael Mann's Dillinger and Milius'.
Still, there's no doubt that Warren Oates turned in a tour de force performance, and so did Ben Johnson as Melvin Purvis. Both were, strictly speaking, too old for their roles, but who cares?
Throw in Harry Dean Stanton, Michelle Phillips, and Richard Dreyfuss, and some really brilliant dialogue in Milius' script, and you've got some great chemistry going in this underrated flick. But obviously, the star-studded cast of "Public Enemies" could turn out just as impressive a showing, or better. -
Petronius Arbiter II — 17 years ago(January 06, 2009 10:50 AM)
Your pointing out that Depp is about the same age Oates was, in 1973, is the only
redundant
thing here. It's been said many times before. The point is, Depp doesn't
look
45. If anything, he looks
younger
than Dillinger did at 31.
Oates at 44 looked like he was over 50.
But physical appearance isn't really what's at stake. There was a very different side to John Dillinger's character that Milius didn't even try to touch. Mann will, and if he does a good enough job of directing, Depp certainly has the acting talent to live up to the role again,
as written.
I don't have a problem with Oates' performance in this film. It's excellent. But it's not John Dillinger.
"I don't deduce, I observe."