Public Enemies Film Review
Michael Mann's Ganster Epic Fails to Insipire
In the 1930s James Cagney was the undisputed king of the gangster genre with such masterpieces as The Public Enemy, The Roaring Twenties, Angels with Dirty Faces and the seminal White Heat. It is this last film - White Heat - that Public Enemies director Michael Mann has a particular fondness for. Traces of the psychologically disturbed character of Cody Jarrett can be seen in all of his antagonists. That's why it's even more of a shame that Mann’s latest film - with Johnny Depp as John Dillinger and Christian Bale as his determined pursuant, Melvin Purvis - is such a major disappointment.
Public Enemies Disappoints
Opening with an intense shootout as Dillinger breaks his criminal comrades out of prison, Mann charts the last 3 years of Dillinger’s life, with his whirlwind romance with Billie Frechette (played brilliantly by Marion Cotillard), his cat and mouse fight with FBI man Purvis and his demise outside a cinema.
The costumes and the set design are excellent. The shootouts are outstanding and on a par with his previous work in Heat. The performances, however, are rather bland. Johnny Depp shows flashes of his undoubted genious but nothing more. The actors are not to blame. The problem lies in the bland script. The relationship between Depp and his girlfriend is never developed to the point where there’s a reason to care where it will lead.
Christian Bale' character is completely one dimensional. The supporting characters are not interesting, more like cartoon characters, which is a shame considering the calibre of actors who play the roles: Stephen Dorff (Homer Van Meter), Stephen Graham (Baby Face Nelson), Giovanni Ribisi (Alvin Karpis) etc. Apart from Marion Cotillard the only actor to stand out is Jason Clarke who plays Dillingers close associate John ‘Red’ Hamilton. Mann’s aim may have been for the audience to decide who to root for. However unlike Mann’s epic masterpiece Heat there are no complex characters. No constructed character development. And thus the biggest problem with the film is that there is no one to care about.
Script Adapted from TV Series
The script was adapted from a TV series. In condensing the material into a two hour plus movie the writers seem to have excised the soul of the story: the characters. The feeling at the end of this overlong film is one of emptiness and coldness.
Public Enemies could have been a great counterpoint and companion piece to the gangster movies of the 1930s - but alas, it was not to be. Then again the old clichéd saying applies: A bad film by Michael Mann is still better than a great film by his lesser contemporaries.
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