Public Enemies

Another gem with heart and conceptual depth that many people (in the cinema, but also on FilmBooster) won't understand and will only see what is visible at first glance: a standard and routine crime story with a handheld camera and raw shootouts with a minimum of emotions. Michael Mann is still the same, but the film is incredibly cool and well thought out. A slightly weaker version of Heat, more intimate and unfortunately set in the 1930s. (25/07/2009)

There’s no need to hide it under a mountain of text, when one word is enough to describe Public Enemies to the tee: borefest; maybe extended with the adjective digital. It’s hard to say why this flat gangster flick needed to be so long, when not a single one of the protagonists develops in any noticeable way (Purvis has only goal for the entire film and Dillinger doesn't evolve at all after meeting Billie). The biggest problem is how uninteresting both of the main characters are; what can you do when you don’t have anyone to root for (because both of them can be seen negatively) and you don’t give a toss about their fates? A weaker 6/10. (18/08/2009)

I approached Public Enemies with distrust despite the names involved because I had read some fairly negative criticism before watching the film. Fortunately, it was only prejudice because I had the honor of watching one of the most interesting films in the gangster genre in the last 10 years. If I don't give it five stars, it's only because the competition in this area is very high; very few periods and genres are mapped as well as the world of American gangsters in the 1930s. Johnny Depp plays his narcissistic and fame-craving Dillinger with ease and gusto, and his surroundings also consist of interesting characters with good casting. The portrayal of the love relationship falls a little flat, and I can imagine a more charismatic and charming actress in the lead role. It also plays a role that Dillinger's partner was only a passive element in his life; those desperate women from the movies Bonnie and Clyde or Mesrine: Killer Instinct, who directly participated in the robberies, are simply more appealing to the viewer. The film's strengths are its music and professional direction. Overall impression: 85%. I can't help but add that, compared to Scarface, which has a much higher rating, Public Enemies is a superior spectacle in terms of filmmaking. It's like comparing a tank to a Kia... (14/12/2009)

I don’t know if it makes any sense to play a trailer to an audience about the movie they are about to watch, but since it’s a well-made trailer, no harm's done. The fact that Mann is a perfectionist and shot the movie precisely in the locations where the events took place probably doesn’t need a further explanation, but because of this Public Enemies gains an indescribable atmosphere, that captured me from the beginning and didn’t let me go until the door closes, which happens to be the ending shot of the movie. The digital camera was able to squeeze something different from a “retro" gangster movie than I’m used to. On top of that, Mike knows how to surprise in very unexpected places and sometimes he creates something memorable from a very ordinary scene. And I haven’t even started about the action sequences. To put a movie about bank robbers into hands of a man responsible for the best ever scene about robbing a bank was a golden move. Mostly, they are presented in a “matter of fact" kind a way, but executed with an absolute virtuosity and the icing on the cake is a shoot out in (hands up, patriots ;-) Little Bohemia. Depp and Bale are both awesome, Depp maybe a bit more, but also maybe because he gets more space in the story. The music, as usual with Mann, is perfectly selected and Elliot Goldenthal almost like he’s picking up on his previous collaboration with Mann. I hope there’ll be a purely orchestral soundtrack too. Despite having a lot of common, another Heat isn’t happening, but that’s logical. Every good movie should be unique. (09/07/2009)

I hate to do this to Mann, but I just can't rate higher this time. His Public Enemies is a stylish and very appealing film on the outside, but inside it’s desperately underdeveloped and unremarkable, passing only out of inertia and the memories of the great Heat, which is on a much higher level both in content and form, as it relies on a better script and can lean on De Niro and Pacino, whose personal rivalry is the strongest motif of the story. And that's what's sorely lacking here, because Christian Bale, however charismatic and convincing, is sidelined at the expense of Depp's gangster, who plays first fiddle and sets the pace of the story. The long runtime is also a bit of a problem, Mann uses it to create the right period atmosphere and to precisely outline the relationship between Depp and Cotillard, but it slows down the narrative and, something that’s especially noticeable, fails to establish a stronger relationship between the viewer and the main characters, so that we ultimately don't know who to root for. That said, the shootouts and the action sequences are excellent, Mann is at home there and no one can compete with him, as well as the musical score, the authentic cinematography and an the emotionally charged ending that at least partially redeems the reputation. After Heat I expected a lot, but I don't think it's possible to repeat such a film. 70% (07/02/2013)