Review: Public Enemies

Synopsis: Public Enemies is an apt title as it features not only John Dillinger. but “Baby Face” Nelson and other assorted crooks and criminals. The movie follows Dillinger (Johnny Depp) as he is pursued by the FBI and specifically Agent Melvin Purvis (Christian Bale) up until (SPOILER for some people I suppose) his famous demise.

Stars: Johnny Depp, Christian Bale, Marion Cotillard, Billy Crudup, David Wenham (Faramir!), Stephen Dorff, Giovanni Ribisi, Stephen Graham (Tommy from Snatch!), Lili Taylor, Leelee Sobieski. Honestly, there are so many faces in this movie I cannot even name them all.

I am not familiar with any movies preciously directed by Michael Mann. I did not see Heat, although I have heard many a great review of it. Never saw Ali, always enjoy Will Smith in serious roles though. And Miami Vice, ‘nuff said. I found Public Enemies to be particular arty, something I was not expecting going into it. That said, I can’t really say what I expected, but I was pleased with the end result.

What I Liked:
Characterizations- This was an amazing movie when it came to who was being portrayed. When I saw Billy Crudup as Edgar J Hoover, I felt an instant spout of joy in my SOUL. Well, maybe that’s an exaggeration, but they even made his ears stick out for the role! And when he leans over to his assistant, and tells him that Agent Purvis “may call me J.” Awesome. Johnny Depp is always great, same with Christian Bale of course. Everyone in this movie seemed to be really pushing their acting chops. I found Marion Cotillard very endearing as Dillinger’s love interest. Stephen Graham as Baby Face Nelson? Genius, for reals.

Cinematography- This film was beautiful to look at. The scenery always fit the feeling of the scene it’s self. The violence had a poetic touch to it that I loved, finding it both horrific and fascinating. Holy crap! It must have been good because I just read that the movie was more than 2 hours long! I had no idea. I had my eyes glued to the screen the whole time. The cities, the forests, the restaurants, the race tracks. Everything had a classic look feel to it. Really beautiful.

What I Didn’t Like:
Something weird about the way people talk?- I have to say, the first 5 minutes of the movie? There were a lot of times I had no idea what anyone was saying. There was mumbling, and thick accents, and just some weird sound things going on. For instance, there is a part where Dillinger is talking to someone he is in a car with, and the camera is outside of the car. The sound is muffled, which makes sense I suppose, but for all purposes other than realism it was really unnecessary and frustrating. They should have made sure everything could be heard before the movie came to the theater. That all said, I really doubt I missed any important dialog because of the few audio problems.

What I Hated:
Listen HERE People-
This has nothing to with the film. But the last two times I went to the movies, people stood by the entrance, the alcove right before the seats, and talked. DURING THE MOVIE. What the hell? Do they think we can’t hear them? If you aren’t sure where to sit, just find an empty spot and sit, then change your seat after you get a sense of where you want to go. Whisper, WHISPER! I don’t care how loud the movie is, I CAN HEAR YOU DUMB ASS. So can everyone else. It’s just rude.

Verdict: This is not an action movie if you were wondering. It has a lot of shooting, but it lies between great dialog and wonderful scenery. When it comes to my ideas about the 30’s in this country this movie basically verifies everything I imagined (With the tommy guns and shoot outs and such). It was really cool, REALLY COOL. I highly recommend the movie to anyone who can stand a little violence and a little art. It was really very good.