Public Enemies
The message of Public Enemies is quite simple: it's good to be bad, except for the pesky possibility of eventually being gunned down by federal agents. Or something along those lines. Often brilliant director Michael Mann (Heat, Ali, Miami Vice) brings the life of Depression-era bank robber John Dillinger to the big-screen with all of the flashy violence expected in a gangster picture, but with none of the imagination. Public Enemies is loud and visually energetic, but it's a soulless affair dripping with cliché and that inescapable sense of a movie lazily going through the motions.
Still searching for that elusive Oscar statuette, Johnny Depp once again makes a bid for a win with his portrayal of the infamous Dillinger, who was seen as a hero by the public while being hailed by FBI leader J. Edgar Hoover as "Public Enemy Number One." Depp's performance is certainly good enough to garner attention, but Dillinger's larger-than-life charisma is exactly the kind of thing that Depp can execute in his sleep. In order to dramatically shake things up, Depp needs to dig deep and make his Dillinger a character to remember. Instead, he sits back and takes it easy, crafting an oversized character who fails to make a strong impression.
The great challenge of telling a story like this one from the perspective of a wanted criminal is to convince the audience that Dillinger is the person we should be rooting for, instead of the federal agents who technically stand on the side of good. The beauty of the Godfather movies is that we follow Al Pacino's Michael Corleone from the light into the darkness. By the time Michael is completely consumed by the dark underbelly of the gangster world, we are trapped along with him, unable to escape. The problem with Public Enemies is that Mann knows what he has to do and he reminds us of his intentions with every passing scene.
Dillinger may by the villain in the eyes of the FBI, but he is the hero of this story, which could work if Mann's black-and-white approach to the bad-versus-good tale wasn't so painfully obvious. Dillinger's gang is routinely shown to be having a great time, with women hanging off their arms and alcohol flowing freely. On the other side of the moral fence, FBI agent Melvin Purvis (Christian Bale, another great actor who refuses to elevate his role) stands around in a stiff suit with an uncomfortable look on his face. Such is the world of Public Enemies. The good guys are boring and the bad guys are exciting. Which side will you choose? Don't worry if you're a little unsure. Mann makes the choice for you right from the start.
While I understand the desire to tell this story in this particular way (after all, this is the nature of gangster movies), I don't need the filmmaker to force-feed this backwards perspective to me. Either way, I need someone to root for, which is what Public Enemies lacks. None of the characters are ever engaging enough to make me care about their story, which transforms a potentially powerful movie into a handsome re-enactment of historical events. It may look good, but there's no substance to support the occasionally attractive imagery. And that brings me to another intriguing, although only mildly satisfying, element of this movie: the vibrant visuals powered by twenty-first century technology.
Since Mann is one of several filmmakers to openly embrace digital video, Public Enemies is shot on high-definition tape instead of traditional film stock. This approach lends the movie an electronically buzzing flavour that is more distracting than complementary. The high-definition technology communicates much of the imagery in stunning clarity, but the juxtaposition of modern technology and onscreen period styles is too jarring to be considered a success. It is certainly different and so it stands out in the midst of the flimsy, paint-by-numbers script (credited to Mann, Ronan Bennett, and Ann Biderman), but it is not enough to invigorate this otherwise lifeless movie.
Public Enemies is essentially an exercise in mediocrity. It is not a train wreck by any means, but rather a movie filled with great talent that somehow manages to be dramatically weightless and sadly forgettable. The teaming of Mann and Depp should offer crackling entertainment alone, but the pairing fizzles at each turn. And in case Mann's directorial decisions are not enough to navigate the movie's manufactured peaks and valleys, Elliot Goldenthal's laughably predictable musical score is about as subtle as a bag of bricks to the face. Dillinger and his gang work hard to show how good it is to be bad, but I am left feeling disappointingly unconvinced. Without a worthy hero or villain to pull me into the story, this movie only alienates in its ability to confuse attitude with story.
