Gangsta’s Paradise or Viewer’s Purgatory?
Written: Jul 14 '09 (Updated Jul 14 '09)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Interesting enough that I wanted to finish it
Cons: No characterization, poor acting, sloppily put together, confusing action scenes
The Bottom Line: A film with promise that never delivered, Public Enemies attains the death kneel of distinct mediocrity. Wait for it at Blockbuster. 2.5 stars.
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| countess_eva's Full Review: Public Enemies |
Welcome back in time to the lawless thirties when such infamous gangsters as Pretty Boy Floyd, Baby Face Nelson, and John Dillinger wreak havoc with incredible bank heists and fantastical escapes complete with fast cars, shrieking hostages, and dangerous shoot outs. Armed with a devil-may-care gallantry, Tommy guns, and big dreams, the life and death of proclaimed public enemy #1 John Dillinger should be an edge-of-the-seat cinemagraphic blowout for viewers but instead a gangster’s paradise turns into an overtly lengthy, ultimately pointless rendition of a concept that has been portrayed better in past attempts.
Weighing in at an astonishing 2.5 hours, Public Enemies is a seriously long film with surprisingly little plot development and nil characterization. The film begins haphazardly, plopping the viewer into the middle of a confusing prison break, supposedly organized by Dillinger. It almost feels as though pieces of the film are missing since, like the beginning, portions of the movie are patched together instead of naturally flowing and characters are not introduced so much as they are just simply there. This gives Public Enemies an almost unfinished feeling, as though a rough draft accidentally slipped through instead of a fully fleshed, carefully pieced film.
Compounding the error of poorly introduced characters, those characters that viewers eventually place as the main players never truly come alive. For instance, a personality such as John Dillinger certainly provides the opportunity for many creative or larger than life renditions but instead Dillinger remains an inscrutable enigma throughout. Simply put, Dillinger has a complete lack of presence which is even more surprising when considering that the illustrious Johnny Depp portrays the brooding gangster. What happened? Depp was beyond wonderful in his role as the vengeful Sweeny Todd, but as Dillinger Depp radiates no mystery or imagination. Very poor, must do better.
Likewise, Dillinger’s love interest Billie (Marion Cottiliard), although a good actress especially toward the conclusion where she is heart wrenchingly abused by a stern FBI agent, is never fully characterized. Cottiliard’s character has potential but director Michael Mann is less interested in fleshing out the historic personalities as he is in portraying confusing gun fights and several overtly lengthy and ultimately pointless dialogue scenes where sterile characters hash out half baked plots all in the name of glorious cinema.
The “good guy” Melvin Purvis (Christian Bale), the FBI agent determined to rein in Dillinger’s lawless behavior was a nonentity. Most certainly Bale had acting talent but like Depp, the script never allowed him to capitalize on his character’s personality. Dillinger, Purvis, and Billie as well as the secondary gangster characters that are rarely graced with a name come off as cardboard cut out characters with no motivations, backgrounds, or reasons that are ever shared with viewers. None of the characters inspire an emotional reaction from the viewers and almost immediately the audience disconnects from the film never to return again.
Considering this is a film about notorious bank robbers, there is quite a good deal of action which did have a redemptive quality, but, as with the rest of the film, it was only half finished. Since the director choose to film Public Enemies on digital video instead of actual film, the shoot out heists and last minute escapes didn’t have a realistic look or feel. Compound this with the fact that most of the male characters are dressed similarly and look identical running around in blurry motion and you have a recipe for guns blazing and bewildered audiences.
Overall, Public Enemies sported some interesting segments, despite its best efforts not to, and the film did have a certain amount of promise due more to the historical importance of Dillinger than a good script or a well thought out plot. For a 2.5 hour movie, viewers would most certainly expect a tighter plot with a lot happening both action wise and dialogue/plot wise. Instead, Public Enemies sews some rough hewn scenes together, smacks several incredible albeit confusing machine gun fights into the story randomly, and takes several very talented actors and gives them little or nothing to work with in the area of characterization. A film with promise that never delivered, Public Enemies attains the death kneel of distinct mediocrity. Wait for it at Blockbuster. 2.5 stars.
Countess_Eva
Recommended:
No
Movie Mood: Action Movie
Viewing Method: Sneak Preview at My Local Theater
Film Completeness: Rough cut, missing major effects, music, etc.
Worst Part of this Film: Duration
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Epinions.com ID:
countess_eva
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 in Movies, Books |
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Member: Frances Carden
Location: Washington DC
Reviews written: 331
Trusted by: 61 members
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