‘Public Enemies’ review

(Released 7/1/2009)

In 1933, the Great Depression draped across the United States like a heavy wool blanket, but for John Dillinger (Johnny Depp) and his gang of bank robbers it was the golden age of American crime. A time where anything and anywhere was possible and the opportunities were endless.  An era in which modern crime prevention was in it’s infancy, and J. Edgar Hoover (Billy Crudup) and the Bureau of Investigation were looking for new ways to fight back against the sudden influx of violent crime that spread throughout the country.  Hoover’s answer was found in the formation of a new federal agency called the Federal Bureau of Investigation or the FBI and it’s point man Special Agent Melvin Pervis (Christian Bale).  J. Edgar Hoover and the newly formed FBI would declare John Dillinger public enemy number one.  Public Enemies doesn’t compare to the greats of the genre but it certainly will hold it’s own. Though, it isn’t going to be for everyone.

From the very beginning, I new that Johnny Depp would squeeze every single glaring detail about John Dillinger. He does it with every character he portrays.  And like only a handful of special actors such as, Daniel Day-Lewis, Tom Hanks, Sean Penn and a few more, Johnny Depp doesn’t simply portray a character. He becomes them.  For Public Enemies, he portrays the infamous bank robber less like a gangster and more like a rockstar.  He was charismatic.  He was, at times, a cold blooded gangster.  He was John Dillinger.  The man everyone remembers but few actually knew.  Johnny Depp was fantastic and sadly, I feel it might be getting wrongly dismissed as a withdrawn performance or even a miscast .  Depp’s portrayal, while somewhat low-key, was magnified by his searing smirk and his ability to captivate and truly draw us into a gunslinger mentality that, if examined close enough, revealed a softer side that would allow us to peer inside a persona we might never have known nor understood.

Christian Bale and Billy Crudup, on the other hand, were uncharacteristic disappointments as the men who hunted down Dillinger.  Bale’s turn on Melvin Pervis, the man who shot Pretty Boy Floyd, felt thin and one dimensional and at times forced, but overall it fed into the story and served it’s purpose.  As does J. Edgar Hoover, played by Billy Crudup.  His role was one that I thought was going to be remembered. When in actuality, it was difficult to recall that he had any significance in the story at all.

As for Marion Cotillard who plays Billie Frechette, Dillinger’s squeeze, the beautiful and stunning Oscar winning actress gives a great performance.  She was absolutely amazing.  Given critics’ take on Depp’s apparent “take it or leave it” portrayal, Marion Cotillard might have turned in another Oscar contending performance and if at all possible, steals the limelight from Bruce Wayne/Batman and Captain Jack Sparrow, the powerhouse performers previously mentioned.

The Cinematography was simply outstanding.  Dante Spinotti once again proves that he is a master of lighting and truly capturing the mood and essence of each and every scene.  The veteran Director of Photography whose bloodline in great films can be found in The Last of the Mohicans, Heat, and his two Oscar nominations for L.A. Confidential and The Insider, is one of the greats.

Michael Mann is quite the accomplished filmmaker and has what some might call a unique or off-beat style of his own.  He made his most memorable impact on filmmaking when he ventured into downtown Los Angeles with an epic bank heist in Heat, for which he wrote and directed.  Then came The Insider, which many claim to be his best piece of work, myself included, where he collected three Academy Award nominations including one for Best Director.  He also had a string of average films in Ali and Miami Vice, but despite coming off a couple sub-par movies, which disappointed many, Michael Mann remains one of the best working directors today not to mention one of my personal favorites.  So needless to say, when I heard he was teaming with Johnny Depp on a movie about the most legendary and infamous criminals of the past century, John Dillinger, I had the highest of hopes for the film.  Public Enemies has Michael Mann’s signature all over it.  The style, shot selection, overall tone and mood give it away at the very onset.  There are massive gun battles that are excellently shot and look great with Mann’s style of grainy picture, bank robberies with suspenseful getaways, car chases that have you gripped to your seat and well….Johnny Depp.

Public Enemies is a richly textured film that accurately depicts the moody and atmospheric golden age of American crime.

“I like baseball, movies, good clothes, fast cars, whiskey, and you.  What else you need to know?”

IMDb – 7.9/10

ROTTENTOMATOES – 63%

MovieWiseGuys – 8.0/10