PUBLIC ENEMIES – REVIEW
6 out of 10
Michael Mann’s Public Enemies, the true story of infamous bank robber, John Dillinger, is a well acted, well written, nicely filmed bio-pic that unfortunately is lacking soul and ultimately is rather boring. The central problem with the film is that it starts in the middle of the story. John Dillinger is already a big time bank robber wanted by the law and respected by his peers and this takes away from the drama of his fall from grace. I understand that Dillinger is a famous criminal, but by not showing his rise to prominence, the character is woefully underdeveloped (along with every other character) and therefore you don’t give a damn about him or his story.
Many of the elements of Public Enemies are solid. The action sequences are rollicking good fun and are done to sheer perfection. You actually feel the bullets whizzing past your head. The story is compelling and the script is well executed, effortlessly evoking the dialogue of 1930’s America. The look and feel of the era is done brilliantly and you never once question when the film is taking place. As always, Mann does a great job of beautifully capturing the mood of his film, but the problem that I always have with him is that there is never any spark in his films. It’s kind of hard to explain. Technically he’s a masterful director always getting the most out of his cast and crew, but at the same time his films feel almost lifeless. It truly comes down to lack of character development in this particular film which takes away from the central drama on screen. The film is ultimately about John Dillinger finally being brought to justice by famous G-man Melvin Purvis, but the characters never share any real screen time and this takes away from the cat and mouse nature of the story. I realize that Mann has crafted a fact based movie, but when it comes to entertaining an audience, sometimes liberties need to be taken. When a film is titled Public Enemies, you should be able to feel the heat between the opponents, or at the very least feel the desire of the characters to outfox each other.
This leads me to the performances. Johnny Depp is brilliant as always, displaying effortless charisma as Dillinger. It makes you wonder what he could’ve done with a fully developed role. In fact, if not for him and his superior skills, Public Enemies would’ve been a disaster. Depp has matured into one of the greatest actors of all time and the fact that he has never won an Oscar is almost as much a criminal act as Dillinger’s robberies. Depp is at his best in the film anytime he is paired with Marion Cotillard as the love of Dillinger’s life, Billie Frechette. The two share great chemistry and you believe the love they share and it is only in their time together on screen that the movie displays any signs of life. Unfortunately though, Cotillard’s character is underdeveloped as is the courtship of their blossoming romance. Christian Bale as Melvin Purvis, the man responsible for taking Dillinger down, does his best with the role bringing a quiet intensity and morality to the character. Other than that there is not much to the character. A little back story would’ve been nice. I would like to have known what motivates him to hunt down notorious criminals and why he is so good at it.
The rest of the cast doesn’t really merit any mention. They have absolutely nothing to do, but fire guns and get killed. Mann does pack many famous actors into the movie, but none of them have characters. Look its Stephen Dorff as a gangster, I don’t know who he is supposed to be in relation to Dillinger, but look its Stephen Dorff! When his character dies, I wasn’t sad for the character, I was sad for Dorff for having such a thankless role. The only supporting actor that lends any weight to the movie is Billy Crudup as J. Edgar Hoover. He truly gives a fantastic performance and I would love to see a bio-pic about Hoover with him as the lead.
To sum it up, Michael Mann’s Public Enemies is a technically impressive film with superb lead performances that lacks any truly compelling drama. Part 30’s gangster flick, part love story and part history lesson, Public Enemies plays like an updated Jimmy Cagney film only without any spark.
