released 7/1/9 by Universal Pictures
dir. by Michael Mann
grade: B-
In the opening scene of Public Enemies, John Dillinger [Johnny Depp] stages a daring prison break complete with accomplices, getaway cars, and near incessant gunfire. Throughout the film, he and his buddies rob banks with expert technique and snappy dialogue. His many escapes, however close, are genius.
John Dillinger was shot and killed. We all know that. Everyone watching the film knows that. We all know it’s coming. And yet, the filmmakers seem to just accept that and abandon any tension or emotion in Dillinger’s story. There doesn’t seem to be any effort to surprise the audience. The bank robberies aren’t thrilling, but dutiful. The escapes aren’t suspenseful, but dull.
Johnny Depp gives a commendable performance. He delivers Dillinger’s zingers with dead pan humor and puts what little emotion can fit into such a factual movie. As Dillinger’s girlfriend, Billie Frechette, Marion Cotillard is wonderful. In all of her scenes she brings a sense of urgency that the film so desperately needs. For his part, Christian Bale attempts a South Carolinian accent. So he gets an A for effort.
The art direction and costume design are flawless. They more than anything else create the mood of the movie. More disappointing is director Michael Mann’s decision to film with handheld digital cameras. Such methods have been used on movies like Children of Men, but there it added to the story. Here it’s just distracting. Imagine some of the most aesthetically beautiful period films of recent years, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button for example. Now imagine them filmed as though they were The Blair Witch Project.
Bryan Burrough first approached HBO in 2002 about a miniseries about John Dillinger. When he found writing a script difficult, he ended up writing the book Public Enemies, a piece of nonfiction. In many ways, I guess Public Enemies is the best film that could be adapted from a nonfiction account of the story. But this painstaking accuracy is the film’s greatest weakness. It produces people and events, but no characters or conflict.
For his adaptation of The Last of the Mohicans, Michael Mann diverted from historical fact to craft a more romanticized story for the film. The result was engaging and thrilling. Perhaps a less factual adaptation would have yielded the same results for Public Enemies.
