Over the last couple of years, the gangster market has been safe in the hands of the Europeans.
The likes of Mesrine and Carlos were fabulously gritty biopics of infamous wildmen.
In Angels Of Evil (or Angel Of Evil, depending whose translation you believe) director Michele Placido plays the Italian card with a recounting of the story of Renato Vallanzasca, a 1970s bank robber.
Mr V was a bad lad. He became the leader of a criminal gang but had aspirations of being Mr Big in Milan.
He outdid himself by becoming Italy's most wanted man, even being linked with murders he did not commit.
The movie follows him from childhood, when he and his mates used to swipe things from local shops, to a time when his crimes were altogether more serious.
Kim Rossi Stuart plays the eloquent hardman who is as fast with his tongue as he is with a knife.
He portrays Vallanzasca with gutsy realism whether he is being charming, erudite or drifting into madness.
The daring heists are exciting and splendidly directed and his rise to notoriety is ably charted.
But the truth is the movie could have easily been 20 minutes shorter. At more than two hours it becomes flabby.
The leopard doesn't change his spots throughout and the constant aimless defiance of authority just becomes wearing.
In fact, Angel Of Evil, while a perfectly competent biopic just doesn't stand out.
And, whereas Mesrine and Carlos were conduits for oodles of copy, I just haven't got a fat lot more to say.
Thus, I won't. I'll simply give it 6/10 and say it's a decent film but not worth a cigar.
Thanks to Jake at Artificial Eye for my DVD screener.
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