Public Enemies (2009)

"They ain't tough enough, smart enough or fast enough. I can hit any bank I want, any time. They got to be at every bank, all the time."


After a recent viewing of 2004’s Collateral, Michael Mann instantly became a director whose filmography I had to explore. Heat had been sitting on my DVD shelf for a good while and to this day I still haven’t viewed the film critics call his best. I also added another Mann DVD to that shelf in the form of The Insider but that too is still to be viewed. So I was obviously excited at Mann’s 2009 release Public Enemies, his latest effort revolving around the genre of crime.

The film portrays the true story of F.B.I. agent Melvin Pervis (Christian Bale) and his attempt to track down and apprehend public enemy #1 John Dillinger, the notorious bank robber, played here by Johnny Depp. The impression is given that Pervis is the best man for the job as we see him take out Pretty Boy Floyd, another bank robber high on the F.B.I’s wanted list, midway through his efforts to seek out Dillinger.

In other reviews of the film that I have read it has been highlighted that Johnny Depp is fifteen years older than Dillinger was at the time in history in which the film's events take place. Not being familiar with the notoriety of Dillinger, this age difference was not something that bothered me as Depp came across totally believable in his role. This should not come as a surprise to anyone as Depp is firmly amongst the world's elite actors and a huge favourite of mine. Depp's portrayal of Dillinger is one of a man who comes across as a cool customer and Depp has some excellent dialogue to back this up. Despite him being the villian of the film's story I was on his side throughout and was a little saddened after the film's final scene (which impressed me greatly on both a stylistic and intensity level) had finished.

The other two main roles of Pervis and Dillinger's female interest Billie were given to Christian Bale (as I have already pointed out) and Marion Cotillard respectively, both of who were unspectacular in their roles. Bale was his usual, mediocre wooden self whilst Cotillard's performance can be classed as nothing more than solid, which is a disappointment as I hear she is an actress with bundles of talent. Here though, she was given little screen time to shine in her role and provide us evidence of that.

On a positive note, there are some great action scenes throughout. Many have complained about the shaky cam effect, a side effect of shoddy camera work all too common in the modern era and an effect we hear many a complaint about. For me however, the shaky cam issue in Public Enemies was non-existent. Instances where shaky cam did occur were when Dillinger and his men were on the move and the camera was in amongst the group which gave off the appearance that we too were walking with these people. Personally, I thought this worked quite nicely and the shaky cam was nowhere near the severity that can be seen in other films. People who speak of it being anything other than mild in Public Enemies are, in my opinion, being a little unfair.

Public Enemies does however fall a way short of the near perfect score that I would give to Collateral, a film I find fault hard to ascribe to. My biggest issue with the film was the lack of attention given to the supporting characters. By this I mean that I thought there was little attempt at telling us enough about them and expanding on their roles and at times I had to give more thought than I should have to when it came to reminding myself which supporting character was which and what there role was in the whole Dillinger saga. Perhaps this was a purposeful choice by Mann, choosing to put the majority of attention on Dillinger, after all he was public enemy #1. But personally, a little more attention to detail on this aspect of the story telling, especially when Mann had so much source material to choose from and researched so hard whilst making this film, would have bumped up my rating significantly.

A small comment must also be made about the score for Public Enemies. For it's score Mann drafted in Elliot Goldenthal, the same Elliott Goldenthal that Mann got to score Heat (a score that received near universal critical acclaim) but it just did not work out here. It has been a while since a score struck me as being odd as much as this one did. There were a few times when it seemed completely wayword and misplaced.

When it comes to making crime films in the modern era Michael Mann is certainly the front runner and by some distance too. He has his own, non-generic style that appears obvious to me after viewing only two of his films and this is something that cannot be said for many mainstreams films from similar genres.

I am very curious as to how Public Enemies will perform at the Academy Awards this year. With the Best Picture Award widening it's bracket back to ten nominations surely Public Enemies will be one of these. Whether it will win or not I am unsure but collectively Mann, Depp and Cotillard have a history of Oscar nomination and success in the Best Director, Actor and Actress categories before and it would not surprise me if the first two were nominated again this year. Only time will tell.

Sure Public Enemies has its flaws and I would not call it a 'fantastic' film but what I would call it is a really, really good one that is highly enjoyable to watch and since when was being called a 'really, really good film' been a criticism? Roger Ebert describes this a a very well disciplined film and he is spot on with that assessment. It is a film that knows exactly what it wants to do and does it. It is a film that strays away from the cliches that it so easily could have fallen prey to for that it should be commended. It may not be Mann's best and it may not turn out to be Mann's second, third or even fourth best (I'll have to find out for myself) but what Public Enemies is is a film that surely strengthens Mann's filmography even further, justifying claims that he is a truly splendid director of film.

Rating: 7.5-8/10 - recommended