Like all movie nerds, I have my favorite films, whether its apart of an 'all time' category, or something that's lumped into genres, I have my favorite film-makers. Favorite actors. I am one of those nerdy little kids constantly mobbing around imdb.com checking what all of my favorites are up to. Almost two years ago, I was taking part in my mid morning mob around imdb and I decided to look into what Mr. Michael Mann had on his plate. Mann has always been a favorite of mine, while he has dropped the ball with his last few films, I believe 1995's "Heat" is one of the best crime movies ever conceived by man. "The Last of the Mohicans" and "The Insider" are also high on my list of films that I can't get enough of. While scrolling over his previous films to make sure I had caught everything this mans man of cinema has created, I find at the top with a little red pre-production next to it "Public Enemies"."OOoO" I said softly to myself as I waited for the page to load. Low and Behold, Johnny Depp, (one of the favs) Christian Bale (another) and Marion Cottard (new fav) are all starring in a Michael Mann film about one of the most badass crime figures in the history of this country. I thought to myself that this wasn't possible, this is too much, this is just too perfect. All of these powerhouses under one camera. This is what we call stoked. How could this be bad? What could possibly go wrong? Nothing I convinced myself.
Dude was I wrong. It could be the fact that I was eagerly awaiting its release for years, It could be my high expectations from the cast and crew. But in all seriousness, that had to be one of the largest disappointments of a cinematic nature in recent memory.
Difficult to sit through, hard to care, and slightly loose are things only really scratching at the surface as to whats wrong with this picture. The picture is even wrong with this picture. Why shoot a period piece full of rich tones in digital?! It looks digital, feels digital, hard to connect with. It completely lacks a feeling of life. Wait until the medium looks good before you use it, stop trying to be so goddamn state of the art. The soundtrack and score is a joke, Mann is not someone known for his choices in the music department, but this is shit. The performances of Depp and Bale are so flat, boring, and one dimensional its almost painful to watch. Cottard is one of the only redeeming factors of the cast but still nothing to jump up and shout about, just not horrible. The screenplay is the real problem here. Too many characters to follow without enough backstory, you have no idea who John Dillinger is, even after 2 and a half hours, all you really find out is that he likes fast cars baseball good clothes and Marion Cottard (which is a line from the trailer). The relationship between Cottard and Depp is weak, and doesnt really grab you as a feasible romance. Apparently it happened, but I still don't really believe it. There are so many moments you have to backtrack and go, "wait how did we get here? oh yea, yea? hmm" way to much overly dramatic slo mo accompanied by the hokie over dramatized score.
The one and only reason one would go to this movie and be satisfied is if they are going for the shootouts. They are good. They are always good in a Michael Mann film, shockingly realistic, startling, and extremely intense. I am not sure who to thank for that, but those parts are really damn cool. My ears hurt at times, it really shows that more film makers should use blanks in their films, sure its more expensive and exponentially more dangerous, but it really stands apart from other cinematic gun fights.
All in all, because of the cast and crew, reputation and track record, this movie is good enough to warrant a rental. NOTHING MORE, do not spend 30 bucks on the bluray or special edition dvd until you have seen it. Spend the 4 bucks at blockbuster in a few months and make sure.
4/10
-Ben
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