UPDATE Review: Public Enemies
*Over the last couple of days, the film didn’t sit well with me and I have to downgrade it. The cinematography is just really bothersome and I just don’t get what he was doing. I think Mann’s directorial decisions are the reason this film doesn’t work, which makes it 2 in a row that I think he has been the main reason his movie doesn’t work (Miami Vice being the other). Depp really makes the film.*
“I like baseball, movies, good clothes, fast cars… and you. What else you need to know?”
That kind of cool and charisma is what John Dillinger was about, and in Michael Mann’s Public Enemies it is the heart of the film.
Public Enemies stars Johnny Depp as the infamous John Dillinger, Christian Bale as FBI agent Melvin Purvis, and Marion Cotillard as Dillinger’s ingenue Billie Frenchette. The cast is the strongest element of the film, with outstanding performances by the 3 main stars. I found it intriguing that each was actually vastly different, but worked well as pieces in the whole. Cotillard brings a sexy, smart, and passionate persona to Billie that is equal parts fun and down to earth. Bale plays Purvis with an understated confidence, and yet he lets you see his emotions creep through with just a stare that lets you know everything he feels.
Despite both of these performances, unsurprisingly Depp steals the show. What’s required for the role is for the audience to feel the same way about him as the general public did back then: admiration, intrigue and a sense of respect based on his charisma. With all the coolness and charm Depp possesses, this is the type of role he was meant to play. Through out the movie you are almost in awe of his charisma, and it draws you in completely.
The script, adapted from the book Public Enemies: America’s Greatest Crime Wave and the Birth of the FBI, 1933–34, has some issues. There are parts of the film that are just far too long and it seems like you are seeing a lot of the same scenes twice. The film should be a solid 15 minutes shorter. Also, the story will reminds me very much of Mann’s masterpiece Heat. The main characters (Dillinger and De Niro’s Neil McCauley) go through basically the same set of problems and plot points, however each have pretty different personalities that effect their decisions, but ultimately lead to the same end.
The other thing I will comment on is Mann’s visual style choices. Mann has always gone for a more realistic look and chooses to go digital and also handheld when possible. This works at times, but there are points in the film where the photography could do so much more for a scene by setting up Dillenger, and at times Purvis, in an iconic manner. It may be that Mann wanted to keep these characters as real as possible and not build them up more than the performances do. Maybe chalk it up to my taste. *Updated above*
Mann has put together a film that is enthralling and only a few elements, mostly pacing, get in the way. One smirk from Depp though, can make you forget all about that.
