4.3 out of 5. but this time in order to chronicle, with a detail and color and immediacy that make celluloid seem almost clumsy and unnecessary, the decline and fall of the legendary New York gangster Dutch Schultz. Billy Bathgate, who takes his name from the street where he was born, apprentices himself body and soul to Dutch Schultz, a fading kingpin of the New York underworld, and eventually rises from gofer to trusted lieutenant, without once betraying an interesting emotion or an unexpected reaction. Dustin Hoffman plays gangster Dutch Schultz in this adaptation of E.L. Doctorow's bestseller about the '30s crime scene, as viewed by an ambitious teen (Loren Dean). Unfortunately, he isn't the central character, Billy is. Watching it, you can't locate the passion that drew the filmmakers to it in the first place. 5 star 61% 4 star 17% 3 star 12% 2 star 8% 1 star 3% Billy Bathgate. 4.3 out of 5 stars. Robert Benton's Billy Bathgate (1991) Author: EL Doctorow (b 1931) is a pre-eminent figure - along with Bellow, Mailer and Malamud - in the generation of … How are ratings calculated? Drew: Nicole Kidman. by Dustin Hoffman. As in World's Fair, Doctorow returns once again to his impeccably rendered 1930's. Billy Bathgate isn't an embarrassment, but it's a puzzle. Billy Bathgate This refined, intelligent drama about thugs appeals considerably to the head but has little impact in the gut, which is not exactly how it should be with gangster films. Fiction. Billy Bathgate is a story about a young, yet street smart Irish kid from the rough and tumble streets of the Bronx, NY and is discovered by the notorious mobster Ducth Schultz while juggling in front of one the Dutchman's beer warehouses.From there, Billy finds a way to insinuate himself into the Dutch Schultz mob,A.K.A "The Kosher Nostra". Full Review Billy Bathgate › Customer reviews; Customer reviews. "Billy Bathgate" is rather low-key for a period crime drama, lacking the gravitas of "The Godfather" films or any Scorsese movie of the same genre. Read 414 reviews from the world's largest community for readers. Billy Bathgate E. L. Doctorow, Author Random House (NY) $19.95 (2p) ISBN 978-0-394-52529-7. Billy Bathgate is a 1989 novel by author E. L. Doctorow that won the 1989 National Book Critics Circle award for fiction for 1990, the 1990 PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction, the 1990 William Dean Howells Medal, and was the runner-up for the 1990 Pulitzer Prize and the 1989 National Book Award.. A film based on the novel was released in 1991 to very mixed reviews. Billy Bathgate book. Sci-Fi/Fantasy/Horror. Reviews. Billy Bathgate, released theatrically in 1991, was directed by Robert Benton and based on the novel by E.L. Doctorow.Starring in the film are: Dustin Hoffman (Dutch Schultz), Nicole Kidman (Drew Preston), Loren Dean (Billy Bathgate), Bruce Willis (Bo), Steve Buscemi (Irving), and Stanley Tucci (Lucky Luciano). He's genuinely unsettling and scary to watch. Mystery/Thriller. 202 global ratings. The glue that holds it all together is Hoffman's performance. Write a review.
