Public Enemies Movie Review

Public Enemies

Movie Review

Some filmmakers never learn. Unfortunately, the same goes for some filmgoers. The last Michael Mann movie I went to was Miami Vice, and I began nodding off about halfway through that; something I almost never do, and certainly not, as in that case, during an action scene. I recently saw Public Enemies, and promptly began dozing about half an hour into this turgid period gangster piece.

So, what was wrong? Nothing for the first five minutes or so. The film opens with John Dillinger (Johnny Depp) breaking what comes to be his gang out of Indiana State Prison. Its a nice tight, exciting opener, made better with some well chosen camera shots (one in particular stands out – a gorgeous wide shot with Depp at its centre which pans with his movement to reveal the prison as backdrop).

Unfortunately, the film fails to reach the foothills of that involving opening again, wasting its not inconsequential running time on cliché dialogue and plot and a toothless, uninteresting storyline. There was obviously far too much attention paid to creating the elegant 1930's depression-era setting and not enough time put into crafting a well-oiled script.

The movie is based on a non-fiction book about bank robber John Dillinger's life, written by Bryan Burroughs and turned into a screenplay by, among others, the film's director Michael Mann. Burroughs praised the writing saying that, “it's by far the closest thing to fact Hollywood has attempted, and for that I am both excited and quietly relieved.” Well Bryan, don't speak too fast because scripts have a tendency to look good on paper if nowhere else.

I remember the exact moment when I went from thinking that the film was salvageable, to wondering about the mental capacities of the scriptwriters. Its about twenty minutes in and after the decent opening, the pace is beginning to slow, and the romantic interest in the form of Billie Frechette (Marion Cottilard) makes her appearance. As much as it sounds like a Human League lyric, Billie is working as a coatcheck at a cocktail bar when Dillinger meets her. Billie doesn't go for Dillinger at first though, and is just about to give him the bum's rush when an impatient customer starts haranguing her. Dillinger decides that the best way to deal with this gent is to give him a severe beating in front of the young lady. Why not, sure he's not doing too well anyway. Best to get his sexual aggression out here rather than the bathroom back home, right? But the camera switches to her, and oh yes; Frechette absolutely loves it, and agrees to see Dillinger again. Bang went my suspension of disbelief, and any goodwill had built up in the leading characters. From that point out Frechette deserves what she gets for shacking up with Dillinger, who is a madman, and an uninteresting one to boot. You can pull the curtain there and then because I don't care about the outcome anymore.

The cast in Public Enemies is all over the place. Depp gives a soulless performance as Dillinger. Now, the guys a bank robber and sociopath, so going down the “no soul” road is a good acting choice, but Depp is an actor who needs his bag of tricks to engage the audience; thats why Pirates of the Caribbean worked so well. If John Dillinger had a British accent, wore effete clothing, or had scissors for hands, then Depp might have shone, but as he had nothing on which to peg it, his performance flounders. Cottilard is passable as Frechette, even if the premise of her character's involvement is ludicrous, along with her dialogue with Depp (the "I'll protect you" lines are laughable). Christian Bale gives his usual brooding turn, regardless of what the role calls for, and as ever adds as much top lip overhang as audiences can stomach. There are some performances worth waking up for though; Giovanni Ribisi (who should be getting more high profile roles than guest spots on My Name is Earl) is engaging as Alvin Karpis and Billy Crudup, fresh off playing Doctor Manhattan in Watchmen, does a nicely judged J. Edgar Hoover.

It seems that Michael Mann is going to Lucasian lengths to ruin his really quite respectable reputation as a crime drama director. Manhunter and Heat are two of my favourite movies, and now I have to pay money to watch this shaky camera bollocks? Why? I would not have been surprised – and it probably would at least have made me take notice – if a Jar-Jar-esque Jamaican gangster had been slotted into Dillinger's gang, spouting dialogue like “Whassa Missa Dillinga? Weesa gonna hold up a bank? Yousa thinkin' yousa people gonna die.”

No doubt Mann will be back. Hollywood forgives a lot when you've made a movie like Heat; and Public Enemies has somehow managed to make double it's budget during it's theatrical run. But hopefully next time, before sitting down to a script, he will look to the tenets which made that film such a critical and popular success. And then refrain from doing the opposite.

1.5/10