HOME Movies ‘Public Enemies’ stays true to Dillinger’s bank-robbing career

‘Public Enemies’ stays true to Dillinger’s bank-robbing career

Written by Sara Pintilie, The Shorthorn staff

Thursday, 02 July 2009 04:28 PM

Public Enemies Directed: by Michael Mann Starring: Johnny Depp and Christian Bale Rated: R Three and a half out of five stars Public Enemies takes a different approach to put John Dillinger on a pedestal. Instead of highlighting the iconic bank robber’s heyday, director Michael Mann focuses on the bitter end of Dillinger’s career. A bold choice, but the film becomes unexpected and enthralling, which makes Public Enemies a summer blockbuster. Dillinger (Johnny Depp) stages a prison break and starts robbing banks, making him number one on the FBI’s Most Wanted List. Detective Melvin Purvis (Christian Bale), famed for killing Pretty Boy Floyd (Channing Tatum), takes the lead to hunt down Dillinger and crew. The movie plays like typical Mann, with warm color tones, jittery camera movements and bright-muzzle camera flashes. But for the subject matter, the stylistic filmmaking distracts more than enhances. The film looks unauthentic in the sense of contemporary filmmaking, but Dillinger’s story rings rather true. The film stays close to the real Dillinger’s life, even down to his demise. Though the movie is entertaining, it wanders around the flickering end of Dillinger’s candle. When it gets snuffed out, the audience is left feeling slightly robbed. Mann doesn’t utilize Bale and Depp’s presence together. The audience wants more than a scene of Depp and Bale interacting but gets one following the other’s shadow. Actress Marion Cotillard blossoms throughout the movie. At first her feisty, yet vulnerable, Billie Frechette was almost a throwaway character. But as the movie progresses, she evolves into one of the strongest characters on screen. Familiar faces pop up through the film: Emilie De Ravin of “Lost,” Never Been Kissed’s Leelee Sobieski, Stephen Dorff, Giovanni Ribisi and Billy Crudup as an annoyingly accurate J. Edgar Hoover give Public Enemies more great performances. The film is all over the place but it never bores. The film captures the audience’s attention from the first jailbreak until the last movie Dillinger sees. The pace is quick and the best scenes in the film are the tongue-in-cheek. Depp overshadows Bale in this film. Watching Dillinger, played with Depp’s coolness, sneak out of an “inescapable” jail makes the movie. Public Enemies, though unfocused, slickly depicts a cat and mouse tale about one of the most infamous men in American History. Views: 1263 | E-mail   Be first to comment this article Powered by AkoComment Tweaked Special Edition v.1.4.6 AkoComment © Copyright 2004 by Arthur Konze - www.mamboportal.com All right reserved

Last Updated ( Wednesday, 18 August 2010 02:51 PM )

 

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