Luke
stu-kicks
CibbuanoPublic Enemies
July 2nd 2010 22:20
Michael Mann's retro gangster epic has more than a few things going for it... a dream teaming of Johnny Depp and Christian Bale, an extensive cast of talented but underated actors (Marion Cotillard, Stephen Dorff, Carey Mulligan, Leelee Sobieski, David Wenham, Billy Crudup and Stephen Graham, just to name a few), a serious exploration of the exploits of John Dillinger, and an epic face-off that runs the gamut of Mann's palette of intellectually-orientated action. Somehow, despite all this, Public Enemies falls more than a little shy of being the brilliant film everyone probably hoped it to be.
We join Dillinger (Johnny Depp) on a daring prison excursion where he masterminds the escape of several incarcerated gang members. Following this, J. Edgar Hoover (Billy Crudup) hand-selects the talents of one Melvin Purvis (Christian Bale) to help bring Dillinger and other bank robbers to justice as part of the fledgling efforts of the F.B.I. (currently in it's infancy and facing bureaucratic and federal opposition). Early 1930s Depression-era America begins to evolve into a landscape of organised, violence-free crime and Dillinger increasingly finds himself on the backfoot as law enforcement becomes more sophisticated in reaction to his ballsy misadventures.
Public Enemies situates itself in a self-proclaimed 'golden age' of bank robbery, a brief era of cavalier crimes and colourfully-named criminals that would soon give way to the more business-like machinations of prohibition-fed hoodlums like Al Capone and Frank Nitti. As such, Public Enemies tells a tale of Dillinger steeped in modern folklore - his escapes, his last words, his last stand, etc. Michael Mann directs through the eye of a handheld digital camera, utilising a modern sense of digital verite to evoke realism alongside the lore of the era. As such, the film has an uphill battle in getting the average viewer on board - for most of the time it doesn't feel like a modern Hollywood action film, it's certainly less accessible than something by Martin Scorcese, and the opening scenes (whilst based on a riveting premise) don't make enough concessions to the audience or traditional film structure to be as engaging as they need to be. It also doesn't help that Depp's characterisation isn't the showy piece of quirkmanship most viewers probably expect of him. I'm not criticising Depp here, just offering an explanation for this film's lacklustre reception, and I think I'd have to say that this film could have been a little better if Mann had put a little more focus on the heart of the tale.
Depp's Dillinger is very much a celebrity of his era, though Mann and his fellow scriptwriters do little to suggest his status as a folk hero for the times. There are a smattering of lines alluding to how Dillinger likes to keep the public on side so he can hide amongst them, but beyond that the film has very little to say on the matter due to it's non-sensationalist manner. Depp gives a cocky, self-assured but ultimately likeable performance that's more attached to historical accuracy than any wanton exaggeration influenced by the usual icons of gangster cinema. Dillinger represents the idea of post-Depression nouveau ambition in a world of old money, and in many ways he symbolises the Depression and the attitudes it fostered (Dillinger remarks at one point that although the elite only care about where you're from, the only thing that really matters is where you're going). Acting-wise, it's a brave decision on Depp's part but also entirely in keeping with the atmosphere of the film. I think it could've been a great performance had it not been coupled with the deliberately unintrusive camera work... as such it falls a little short due to too much of Depp's performance taking place in the peripherals of the screen.
Christian Bale on the over hand is a complete let down. His accent sounds weird, his character (though probably entirely authentic) is boring, and his performance is decidely no-nonsense. There's a short piece of text at the film's end that talks about the fate of Bale's character that managed to gobsmack me... it was a hundred times more interesting than anything we got on screen from either Bale or Mann! This film should've and could've been a 1930s counterpart to Heat (Mann's other bank robbery-based epic), with an intense and finely-observed story of two men on opposite sides of the law. The two films share more than a few similarities, but alas - this aspect isn't one of them. Also, I mentioned at the beginning of this review that Public Enemies features an extensive cast of interesting and great actors - predictably, most of them are wasted. I'll be damned if I could spot David Wenham or Carey Mulligan amongst them. Billy Crudup is great as Hoover, but Stephen Graham barely gets a line as Baby-Face Nelson, and Marion Cotillard is probably the only person besides Depp to get the screen time she deserves. One look at the castlist on IMDB.com reveals a cast of roughly 70 credited actors - most of whose characters have names or dialogue. Whilst watching the film you'd be forgiven for thinking that the film only really has six characters on screen - an unfortunate byproduct of the digital verite style.
Mann generally doesn't really stab to the heart of the story's themes and seems to be more interested in just putting this partial biopic up on screen in a realistic fashion. Having said that, he still knows how to shoot one hell of a gunfight, and the anachronistic but suitable banjo music was brilliant. I also enjoyed the fascinating historical detail regarding Hoover's war on crime, showing firsthand the origins of the FBI - how it was built out of a reaction to state lines and corrupt counties harbouring criminals, and how it grew via early forensic methods in a pre-television, pre-surveillance age. Also, for all the film's flaws and inherent flatness, the ending was absolutely amazing. Public Enemies plays out scenes of the last film Dillinger goes to see (Manhattan Melodrama) along with shots of Dillenger himself, and sets it to a modern soundtrack to find a synergetic collusion between the two texts. Depp's knowingly stoic gaze as the themes of Manhattan Melodrama literally speak to him about Dillinger's life are probably worth alone the film's somewhat patchy 130 minute journey.
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