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Movie review: 'Public Enemies' (uh-oh)
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Public Enemies/2009 - Directed by: Michael Mann
Starring: Johnny Depp, Christian Bale, David Wenham, Billy Crudup, Stephen Graham, Giovanni Ribisi and Marion Cottilard
The Plot: It's Thunderdome in the 1930's. Gangster hero John Dillinger (Depp) has his heart set on stealing and robbing from every banking institution in the dust bowl. Meanwhile the newly formed Federal Investigation unit (Crudup and Bale) leave no stone unturned in their desperate pursuit of the charming criminal mastermind.
The Good: Critical Disclaimer: I'm pretty much the world's biggest Michael Mann fanboy. I'm a Michael Mann-iac alright? So I won't try to stealth bomb a positive review on the reading public without first making that point clear. I was predisposed to love this movie and then go see it four or five times in the theater no matter what it played out like. Definitely weigh these facts against everything I'm about to say about the film before deciding to see it or not to.
I get the feeling that the things I love about Michael Mann movies - the way he will just drop an audience directly into a story already in motion with absolutely zero preface as to why or how we got there. How he stacks moments on top of each other instead of plot points - till all these moments finally result in a fully functioning film. How he'll use the anatomy of an actor's face instead of their words to build a flesh and blood character - I get the feeling that all these things, especially in this film, are going to turn a whole lot of people off.
They'd never turn me off of course.
Public Enemies is a gangster film - but a very fine tuned gangster film. This isn't a Scorsese gangster flick or a DePalma gangster flick - or even a Tarantino gangster flick. Each of those talented filmmakers bring their own game to the genre. It doesn't even resemble any gangster movie that Michael Mann has done before this one - including Heat.
Public Enemies is overflowing with, (and I really don't know how else to describe it) a sort of ruthless tenderness. Johnny Depp's John Dillinger has every reason to be as self-assured as he is. He's bold whether taking down a bank or trying to land a date with a dame he's got his eye on. But it's the little moments where Mann and Depp create this classic gangster. Moments where he's tuning-up, almost lovingly, his Tommy-gun because the main spring's coiled to tight and the gun pulls to the right. Or the moment where Dillinger clandestinely tours the Chicago police department building - every cop in the free world is looking for him and he's right there among them taking it all in. Basically buzzing off the buzz he's created in law enforcement. There's also this outstanding moment where Dillinger takes in a Clark Gable movie - I won't spoil anything about that scene in the film. It is touching though.
Christian Bale has his moments too. There's this expression on Bale's face as he watches one of his officers die from being mercilessly gunned down in a hallway by Baby Face Nelson (played by Stephen Graham in a totally unhinged performance) - Bale's eyes go from comforting to complete and total lost. Depp's Dillinger later asks Bale's character if he's ever watched someone slip into death before, and it's this scene, this dead look on his face, this lost expression that we remember from earlier in the film. Melvin Pervis is basically the blunt tool used by the FBI to hunt down bank robbers and cop killers. But he's a human being first - one that recognizes that he's ill prepared to deal with a criminal element that has no question or hesitation about gunning cops down if they get in their way.
I'll be honest, this is a really tough movie to review. (hence the "uh-oh" in the header) Mainly because it's not what I expected or could have expected it to be. Speaking only for myself here - I totally dig the unexpected. Maybe not in an Indy IV alien crystal skull invasion sort of unexpected - but in a general sort of unexpected. This isn't a heist film - it's a film film. It's a character study of cops and robbers. There's plenty of gangster moments and gangster one-liners - Public Enemies isn't that scrubbed and white-washed - but the gangster amenities take a back seat to telling the truth and nothing but. Which is why I'm thinking more than a few people are going to be turned off by the movie. It's Summertime. The kids like big movies about big people doing big things. This isn't that movie - or maybe it is? Like I said it's a tough film to toss a review onto.
The Bad: Film biopics are notoriously hard to pull off. Most filmmakers agonize over getting every little detail to get the "based on a true story" story exactly right. See David Fincher's Zodiac for reference here. It's an exacting film - every detail of the serial killer investigation is captured on celluloid. It's a great film as well. But it'll never be David Fincher's Se7en will it? Same goes here.
Public Enemies is a bank robber film with little bank robbing going on. Sure there are a couple of robberies - but nothing on the level of the massive bank siege in Michael Mann's Heat. This isn't Heat. (what is right?) It's not even trying to be Heat. And maybe that's why the film is so interesting - which depending on your movie constitution you could read "interesting" as "boring-as-fried-bug-sh*t" - Lord knows I do when I'm reading any David Lynch movie review...
Billy Crudup. Filmmakers love him - and usually I respect the sanctity of the romance - but when this guy's off he's off. Billy's J. Edgar Hoover seemed a bit ham sandwich to me. Like he was attempting to channel the voice of some long-dead 1930's newsreel jockey. He didn't totally suck in this role, (and maybe this complaint has everything to do with most of the other actors being so much more natural in their performances) he just seemed to pour it on too strongly - sort of like a cheap cologne. I can't help but think that there was someone else better fit for this position. Maybe, oh I don't know, Russel Crowe?
The Ugly: JOHNNY DEPP DOESN'T HAVE AN OSCAR YET.
The Verdict: Summer action junkies won't find anything worth their time and money to invest in Public Enemies - but it's a cool film nonetheless. Mann movies are inherently cool movies anyway - Public Enemies is no exception to its royal bloodline. The performances are terrific - especially Depp and Marion Cottilard. (who I never got to in The Good portion of this review - sorry Marion you were terrific) It's a solid period film that probably has no business keeping weekend box-office company with the Transformers and Harry Potter. Personally, I can't wait to see it again. And again. And again...
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