Public Enemies

Michael Mann directs this telling of the story of John Dillinger as played by Johnny Depp. Overall I'm glad I saw the film - but would definitely put it below my initial expectations (at least those I had before reading reviews). I will say I wasn't bored even though it's fairly long. But oddly it wasn't that involving either - the New Yorker review describes it as neutered and I think that's a fairly good description if one is forced to choose a single word. Given the famously amazing gun play of Heat I figured at the very least there would be some exciting action in the mix. But I didn't really feel I was pulled into those scenes either which felt somewhat fractured and just shot in small doses pieced together. That style made definitely it harder to follow the overall sense of what was happening. Perhaps that was on purpose illustrating the chaotic nature of what was involved. Given though that these were ostensibly fairly practiced folks shooting at each other I felt as though I was missing something with the camera essentially just cutting back and forth between people shooting at each other.

Several of the performances are a step above standard action fare. Depp is enjoyable to watch, and the role Christian Bale has as the main agent in charge of catching Dillinger is one of the few I've seen where I felt his almost comically stoic onscreen personality seemed to fit in recent films. At times beautiful there are several changes in the style of cinematography I found particularly jarring, pulling me almost completely out of the film. I don't think it's a good thing if during a gun battle I find myself thinking "hey, is this part shot in a style of digital that's intended to look like a modern documentary?" I actually thought this was my imagination until I started reading a bit online and saw there were in fact changes of style. A much better use of the documentary style (at least for me) is evident in the superb film The Hurt Locker where if manages to feel natural within the narrative flow of something you know if fiction. Here, well .... it just felt off. Until those switches in style though I liked the smooth, admittedly stylized view of the film. I also read some online complaints about the sound which I also thought was me. There are a few times where I felt as though I was supposed to be able to hear the dialog but just couldn't. I saw it in a theater with pretty high quality projection all around so I'm inclined to believe that was the film and not the theater.

Other than that it gives a view of both the bank robbers, the FBI, and the somewhat in between group of organized crime figures who were worried Dillinger's exploits were hurting their progress to more lucrative lower risk pursuits. It's not purely shoot 'em up entertainment and not serious character study either. Just a summer movie I suppose...