Loren Dean miscast

BILLY BATHGATE is quite a good film, although no comparison to the masterful book from which it's (loosely) adapted. For me, its nearly fatal flaw is the casting of Loren Dean, a very capable actor, but far too old (early 20s) and physically imposing, for the part of Billy.

In the book, Billy is a 15 year-old street kid. When he hooks up with Dutch Schultz and his gang, he is understandably intimidated by them, both physically and due to their fearsome reputation. However in the film, the strapping, physically imposing Dean towers over Dutch and most of his men. Plus, the romance between he and Mrs. Preston, which had a SUMMER OF '42 May-December forbidden sexiness to it in the novel, looks like normal attraction between two young adults in their 20s. It just doesn't ring true, and lessens the power of what was a very powerful story as a book.

Someone like Leonardo di Caprio, who was in his teens in the early 90s, would have been more appropriate for the titular role of Billy, or even Mark Wahlberg would have been preferable. I still think it's a film well worth seeing, but it missed greatness due to Dean's miscasting, IMO.