Public Enemies: A Solid Offering, But Could Have Been So Much More ...
Written: Jul 14 '09 (Updated Jul 16 '09)
|
Product Rating:
|
|
| Bang For The Buck |
 |
|
|
Pros: Great attention to detail, aesthetically. A fun movie for crime drama fans.
Cons: Under-characterization as Depp is relied on to completely carry the film. Slight historical inaccuracies.
The Bottom Line: A good movie all around, but unless you're a die-hard Depp or gangster/crime movie fan, it's best to wait for this movie to come out on DVD.
|
|
|
| dcedmonds's Full Review: Public Enemies |
I'm a sucker for movies about true historic figures. I'm an even bigger sucker for movies about real life criminals and gangsters. One of my favorite eras in the history of the Unites States has always been the Public Enemy Era. J. Edgar Hoover and his G-Men versus the likes of Dillinger, "Baby Face" Nelson, "Pretty Boy" Floyd, Alvin Karpis, the Barker Gang, Bonnie & Clyde ... I absorb information about that era like a sponge. When I heard this movie was coming out and would feature a good chunk of the criminals listed above, I was beside myself.
Public Enemies mostly focuses on the final years in the life of John Dillinger, who was at the time Public Enemy #1. Played by Johnny Depp, the movies keys on his "live this moment like it's your last" attitude and largely unconfirmed relationship with former coat checker Billie Frechette (Marion Cotillard).
The movie has it's good moments, but you also find yourself scratching your head a lot ... especially if you know anything about the era and the story of Dillinger. Personally, the most disappointing aspect of the movie was that it failed to show much of life in the Great Depression and the effect it had on Dillinger and other bank robbers at the time. Dillinger's motivations aren't really touched on aside from him seeming to think robbing banks was good clean fun.
Depp was believable as Dillinger at best, but was adequate. Christian Bale as head law man Melvin Purvis was uninteresting and stiff. Honestly, I am starting to expect that from Bale as the limitations on his acting range are starting to show. Sadly, "Pretty Boy" Floyd (Channing Tatum), "Baby Face" Nelson (Stephen Graham), and Alvin Karpis (Giovani Ribisi) were under-used and rarely had any screen time. It's a shame too, because in the glimpses you see the actors seemed to play their parts well. Despite only having a handful of scenes, Billy Crudup actually stole the show as J. Edgar Hoover. I am liking Crudup more and more every movie I see him in.
While the camera angles were very very shaky, the action was well done. Mostly centered on tommy gun shootouts and a nifty little car chase, the action scenes were worth the price admission and were a great example of how such scenes should be in a "cops and robbers" style film.
As a fan of the era, I couldn't help but note a handful of glaring inaccuracies. The first thing that jumps out at you is the idea that Purvis was a shining beacon of truth and justice. In reality, he was pretty underhanded with his methods and was no Boy Scout. You let this go somewhat due to story purposes.
The other issue is the timeline as far as bank robber deaths go. "Pretty Boy" Floyd is gunned down in the first five minutes of the film when he actually died several months after Dillinger. "Baby Face" Nelson is shown dying at the shootout at Little Bohemia. In real life, he survived that shootout and also died several months after Dillinger. I understand the desire to streamline things a little, but I think the movie would have been much better if other bank robbers were featured a little more and their deaths were a tad more accurate.
Even still, the movie paid close attention to detail aesthetically as the scenery and era apparel was spot on and top notch.
At the end of the day, Public Enemies is good and entertaining for the crime and gangster film fan, but won't secure it's place on the shelf with other classic films of the genre. At times it tends to drag on and you want to scream "Just hurry up and kill Dillinger already!" Honestly, this movie had all the makings of a truly great film, but seemed to be a little uninspired at times. It's not a must-see by any stretch of the imagination and is more of a solid home rental.
Recommended:
Yes
Movie Mood: Die-hard Fans Only
Viewing Method: Other
Film Completeness: Looked complete to me.
Worst Part of this Film: Duration
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
dcedmonds
|
|
Member: Danny
Location: San Diego Area, CA
Reviews written: 9
Trusted by: 3 members
About Me:
Returning to Epinions after a very long hiatus. I missed this place.
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.