Michael Mann’s latest movie is to no surprise a crime drama, and it’s called Public Enemies. Focusing on bank robber turned folk hero John Dillinger and his attempts to avoid the long arm of the law, there are hints of vintage Mann: beautiful theatrical score, tension, set and payoff. Unfortunately there are many traces of recent Mann: digital cameras which are insistently handheld.
It’s 1933 and John Dillinger (Johnny Depp) is captivating the attention of our depression-ravaged country through a seemingly endless series of bank holdups. Over the course of his spree, he frequents Billie Frechette (Marion Cotillard). Given the task of apprehending John is Melvin Purvis (Christine Bale), a special agent for the upstart FBI.
Johnny Depp is an appealing actor and as many would predict, he’s enjoyable in this role. As Dillinger, he’s the only actor in Public Enemies to be given the role of the jokester. That’s not to say that he’s a barrel of laughs, but Depp channels some Jack Sparrow through some smarmy comebacks. He’s the venerable leader who also knows there is a time and place for emotions. Unfortunately, the remainder of the cast has nothing but one-dimensional characters with which to work. Christen Bale, who I’ve noticed to be recently scaled back in the promotional effort for this film, is the just adversary. Granted his role is paper thin, but taking his history into consideration, I’m surprised this wasn’t the film in which he launched a tirade. Marion Cottillard is underused as Billie, John’s main squeeze. For far too long she is just a stereotypical love interest who seldom explains her background and does exactly as she’s told. There were a couple of scenes given to Cottillard to show her work to the American crowd, and she delivers a convincingly vulnerable state of being.
It’s not perfect, not even close. The combination of digital cameras and handheld techniques, is troublesome. During well-lit daytime sequences, only the handheld aspect is troublesome. At night the combination is deadly. Despite the efforts of the most fine tuned of projectors, action is blurry. Cuts are not fast enough to make it incomprehensible, but you have to wonder why a talented director continues to follow a path that leads to these results. It’s not like he’s fighting serious budget constraints. Mann has the financial backing to muster something more aesthetically pleasing. It’s not as offensive as Collateral, where it appeared that Tom Cruise was starring in a home video, but I fail to see why he continues this route with big budget Hollywood projects. There isn’t much action, but pacing is viewer friendly since tension is retained throughout the movie. I can’t but help to think of Heat, and I see only a few differences. The music used in the film is inspired by the time period, but with a contemporary flavor.
Ultimately Public Enemies is a rewarding film, though partially falsely billed. If you go in expecting the allure of the elaborate heist rigs and the dynamics of robbing the impenetrable; you’ll be let down. If you read this first, you’ll go in knowing that it’s a love story, cat-and-mouse game, and a Depp vehicle. ***
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