He plans to form a federal force that can cross state lines and apprehend or - as is often the case - kill criminals. Edgar Hoover (a terrific Billy Crudup of “Watchmen”), a shifty bureaucrat who has no field experience in apprehending criminals but has cast himself as a law enforcement visionary. ![]() That popularity with the press and public, however, causes the handsome gangster to come to the attention of J. Other famous criminals, including Pretty Boy Floyd (Channing Tatum of “Step Up”) and Baby Face Nelson (Stephen Graham of “Gangs of New York”), exist, but they are clearly on the D-list next to Dillinger. In “Public Enemies,” Dillinger, who grew up on a farm in Indiana, ranks as the master of the universe when it comes to underworld activities. Those willing to go along with the approach created by Depp and Mann should be swept away, but others may wish they had stayed home and put director Francis Ford Coppola’s “The Godfather,” a more easily accessible film, in their DVD players. Dillinger is treated like a star by newspaper reporters, who hang on his every word, chronicle his exploits, and turn his prison escapes into something akin to sporting events. The gifted Mann, whose impressive credits include “Thief” (1981) with James Caan, “Manhunter” (1986) with William Petersen, “Heat” (1995) with the dream team of Al Pacino and Robert De Niro and “Ali” (2001) with Will Smith, initially creates an almost fairy-tale look at the criminal world. In the 1930s, Dillinger became a folk hero to middle class and poor citizens as he robbed rich institutions - a theme with strong echoes today due to our current economic woes caused by greedy bankers and opportunistic money manipulators - and never took a dime from working people. “Public Enemies,” despite its R rating and flashy television ads, isn’t that motion picture.īut viewers in the right frame of mind may find themselves totally intrigued by Depp’s interpretation of the famous gangster. That artistic decision may annoy viewers seeking a gritty mob movie with bloody battles waged by trigger-happy hoodlums. The 46-year-old superstar clearly saw Dillinger as a mythic figure and plays him that way. I’m going with three out of five for Public Enemies, watch it if you’re a fan of Johnny Depp, he has a charismatic, alluring appeal that lifts this film considerably.Johnny Depp plays gangster John Dillinger as the king of cool in director Michael Mann’s “Public Enemies,” an intriguing crime picture shot more like an art film than an action tale. Public Enemies doesn’t hold its own against some of Mann’s previous films including Heat and The Insider, but it’s an enjoyable enough blow-em-up picture for action fans. And without that depth, you really couldn’t care less about whose blood is getting spilled. But in the end it’s the action set pieces you remember because sadly this film fails to establish a genuine emotional connection to the characters. Johnny Depp plays Dillinger with a subtly simmering charm, and Mann shoots him in tight close-ups to heighten his appeal. If the film had focused on these three men and the battle of wits between them, there might have been room to develop them as characters, but directorMichael Mann crams the film with numerous side players who appear just long enough to be blown up by the cops.įor those who just want to see gun battles, the love story angle between Dillinger and Billie, the beautiful hat-check girl played by Marion Cottilard, may drag towards the middle ofthe film, but Depp and Cottilard have palpable chemistry and their romantic scenes are some of the movie’s finest.įilmed in a deliberately ‘digitial video’ style to capture the immediacy of the action, Public Enemies does full justice to the period it’s set in by delivering flawless production design in terms of sets and props and costumes. Much like our Hindi movie heroes, he manages to escape even when outnumbered, he dodges a flurry of bullets, and brazenly taunts the feds by hiding in plain sight.īilly Crudup stars as the young J Edgar Hoover, then the head of the fledgling FBI, and Christian Bale plays Melvin Purvis, the agent in charge of bringing Dillinger to justice. The filmmaker shoots Dillinger as a cocky fugitive who enjoys outwitting the law and is practically impervious to capture. ![]() The film blends a lot of fact and a bit of fantasy to tell the story of Dillinger who robbed the rich and occasionally gave to the poor, eventually emerging as a larger-than-life folk hero whom the feds swung into action to capture. Public Enemies directed by Michael Mann is a sprawling period piece, a crime drama set in the 30s-era of gangsters and lawmen, and it stars Johnny Depp as Robin Hood-style legendary bank robber John Dillinger.
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