"Public Enemies" - REVIEW

There were probably two different ways to tell the John Dillenger story. The first: the awards conteder way, filled with backstory (most notably flashbacks of Dillenger as a boy) and deep contemplative moments meant to draw one deep into the inner workings of Dillenger's head. The second: the summer movie for grown ups, wherein backstory and tremendous depth are cut out, in favor of a dark, straightforward, tale that goes straight to the good stuff. Clearly, Michael Mann, in what I would like to label as a return to form (though plenty will disagree) has opted for the second option. Though Dillenger (Johnny Depp) does briefly tell Billie Frechette (Marion Cotillard) that his father beat him, we never go into any disturbing flashbacks or moments where Dillenger stares and is haunted by something in his past. No, instead it's straight to the good stuff, right from the opening sequence.

The first words on the screen, instead of a long winded, pretentious scroll about the state of America in the 1930s, cut right to the chase: it's the Great Depression, and people like John Dillenger are thriving while others struggle and fall. Cut to a prison in Indiana, where we see Dillenger and some cohorts fake an arrest in order to get inside the jail, only to smuggle weapons in, and bust out their captured comrades. From the beginning, if there's one thing that stands out, it's not the acting, but the visuals. Shot entirely with HD Digital handheld cameras and then remastered for big screens, the camera work is often slightly shaky or in-your-face and certain scenes have quite a grainy look to them. It's an interesting experiment, and surprisingly, it's not a failure; sometimes it works quite well. Some of the shifting, tilting shots from alongside a speeding car are beautfully done, and it helps lend a sense of uncertainty during gun fights. Sound is a different matter however, and this is where the limitations of these cameras show. Gun fire is one thing; anytime someone pulls a trigger it's like a blast of fireworks going off (in a good way). Dialogue is another. Particularly in the early scenes, dialogue ranges from near-unintelligible to extremely quiet. Pray that you're watching this with a quiet audience. But like most things in "Public Enemies", from the writing to the acting, they get better as the film progresses through its 2 hr. 20 min run time. Depp in particular gets to shine, albeit in a less flashy way compared to some of his other recent roles, in later scenes when things start to go South for Dillenger. Cotillard is the same way. For a good portion of the movie, she might seem like she was just doing solid work in an underwritten role, but like Depp, the end is kinder to her than the beginning, allowing her to flex her acting muscles a bit more (however, she is a VERY supporting character, and does not get to do as much acting wise). Sadly, Bale, the last of the significant characters, along with the supporting cast including Billy Crudup as J. Edgar Hoover, Giovani Ribisi, and Leelee Sobieski, don't. As much time as Bale has on screen, he never quiet breaks any new ground with his character over the course of the story. His performance isn't bad, but it never gets any of the those quiet moments to shine like his two main co-stars.

On the technical and artistic front, just about everything is first rate. The camera work with the HD handhelds is mostly strong, ranging from shaky closeups to controlled, elegant wide shots, and there are times when the visuals seem to lose all graininess and become strikingly clear and beautiful. Production design and costumes are all first rate in how they recreate the 1930s. But from the artistic despartment, it's Elliot Goldenthal's score that impresses the most. Remniscent of the score from Mann's "The Insider", it's not exactly the type of music one might expect to hear in this hard boiled gangster tale, but it works extremely well at bringing out the mood of the scenes; scenes that might have been left feeling a bit empty had the music not been there.

So at the end of the day, where does "Public Enemies" stand as a whole? I definately liked it, and as I said, it got better as it went on. However, it's not quite great, and again, this is in part due to the decision to focus 100% on Dillenger the gangster. Without deeper insight, "Public Enemies" can't soar high enough to break from "very good" into "excellent". It's a worthy addition to Michael Mann's canon, and certainly his best film since "The Insider" in 1999, but what keeps it from ranking up there with "The Insider" is that it falls short of being truly compelling; if only it had tried to soar a little higher...

Grade: B+