PUBLIC ENEMIES

“PUBLIC ENEMIES” (Johnny Depp, Christian Bale, Marion Cotillard & Billy Crudup)

In the early 1960’s, when I was a kid, there was a plastic toy machine gun that would make a ‘rat-a-tat’ noise when the trigger was pressed; as an added attraction, a light would flash from inside the plastic mechanism to indicate bullets being expelled.
Director Michael Mann must have gone out & bought a sh*tload of these toy guns – modified them so the light shot out from the barrel & then said, “Okay, let’s make a movie about bank robbers!”
There’s very little that I liked about ‘Public Enemies’ & I blame Mann completely. I disliked it right from the beginning as he seemed to have hired the same guys that shoot the ‘Girls Gone Wild’ videos for cameramen. There is a ‘cheapness’ to the production that spoils the fine performances of Depp & Cotillard as John Dillinger & his lady, Billie.
All I can figure is that Mr. Mann must have signed a merchandising deal with Burger King, so his ‘cheesy’ production values could tie-in with a ‘cheesy’-burger value meal.

Then there’s the costume problem; the film is set in ‘depression-era’ Chicago, yet EVERYONE is wearing pristine suits & hats – even the extras in the banks are smartly dressed, as though this was a very affluent time in America & everyone had plenty of money to spend on expensive suits & dresses. No ‘Brother Can You Spare A Dime?’ bums existed on the streets of Chicago according to Michael Mann – the streets were void of any litter; the cars were all mint condition sedans that never showed so much as a speck of dirt – riddled with bullet holes, but clean as a whistle.
So the camera work was cheap, but everything else was too polished. & trust me, if I notice those things, they are poorly done - annoy me with ‘reality show’ camera shots, make me notice what characters are wearing & you’ve done it all wrong.

I’ve heard nothing but criticism of Christian Bale’s performance - & though, I’m not saying it isn’t warranted, he isn’t ‘awful’. I’d say his character is fairly bland; Melvin Purvis is introduced by showing him gun down Pretty Boy Floyd (Channing Tatum in what is clearly his best acting to date) Purvis shows no emotion as he ‘takes out’ the mobster by shooting him in the back. So why should he exhibit ANY emotion for the rest of the film? He reminded me of Jack Webb’s Sgt. Joe Friday; “Just doing my job, ma’am, that’s why I wear a badge.”
No, Christian isn’t the one to be criticized here, it’s Mann. Billy Crudup doesn’t exude much character as J. Edgar Hoover & yet, I don’t hear any complaints about his lackluster performance. But Bale screamed at a production assistant, so now he’s a crappy actor. True, he seems to have peaked with “3:10 To Yuma” & is on a downward slope, but this film is of such poor quality, you can’t fault Bale for that.

SPOILER ALERT! If you’re unaware of Dillinger’s fate in this story don’t read on... Well, if you’re unaware of how John Dillinger died, you probably don’t read much, so never mind... I only bring up the film’s finale because it struck me as ‘laughable’ – compared to the ‘harrowing’ murder scene in “Milk” where I felt sick to my stomach at how realistic that death sequence was filmed, Public Enemies’ climax was just as cheesy as the rest of the film. A big fat cop walking thru a crowded street with his gun arm extended, taking aim at someone who appears to be just another pedestrian & NO ONE in the crowd screams or panics in any way... They do look nice in their pristine suits & fancy cocktail dresses though.

The good parts are provided by Depp & Cotillard; he hasn’t impressed me in YEARS & she is new to me – her Oscar winning performance isn’t the type of film I’d enjoy. But they both shine in this otherwise cheesy flick. Depp has the best lines; Reporter:”Johnny, you have police departments in fourteen states out looking for you, what does that mean to you?” Dillinger:”I’m popular?”
The best scene was made up, so it reduces the ‘realism’ of the entire film, as I’m certain that the real John Dillinger never walked into the Chicago Police Department’s ‘Dillinger Squad’ offices & asked the detectives to tell him the score of the Cubs game.”
Fellow viewer, famed movie director Alan Smithee commented afterward, “I imagine 15-to-16 year old boys will be entertained by it.”
But as I thought about who might enjoy this film, I leaned more toward 90-100 year olds who were alive in the 1930’s... I’m sure even in senility, they’d be thinking to themselves, “I don’t remember everything being so clean & pristine back in those days...”