“What keeps you up nights, Mr. Dillinger?” “Coffee.”
June 17, 2010Public Enemies
I have fixed feelings about this film. It’s definitely not the best of last year but it’s certainly enjoyable. There was a lot of criticism of the script and the sometimes campy dialogue. I disagree. I liked the feel of a 1930s gangster film even though every other aspect of Public Enemies is very realistic, up-close and personal. I guess it helps that I really had no familiarity with the real story of John Dillinger. Not that it, like any other biopic, is entirely accurate but, for me it was a good starting point. A good introduction to a troubled man in troubling times.
Visually, this film is amazing! The costumes, sets, authenticity of the weapons and vehicles really put you in 1930s mid-America. Perhaps the best aspect was the fact that much of the filming takes place in the actual places they occurred, like Dillinger’s prison escape, the shootout in the woods and outside Chicago’s Biograph Theater. It’s pretty spooky to think that Johnny Depp’s face hits the exact same space of sidewalk as Dillinger’s 75 years before.
But despite the terrific look, I did have problems with Public Enemies. It was a bit hard for me to keep track of who was who in his gang, especially after they joined up with another gang near the end. I only cared about Dillinger. The rest just seemed like clutter. I also couldn’t quite follow what they were trying to do once they joined up with Baby Face Nelson and the rest. In the end it didn’t seem to matter anyway. Another problem was with the additional FBI that were brought in to deal with Dillinger. Even though I thought Melvin Purvis was played very well by Christian Bale (contrary to some critics), there was just not enough character development for the rest of the team to make me care who they were. All I could think was “Hey that’s the guy from Avatar.”
Despite these aspects, this was an enjoyable movie that I would recommend to most. But it just seems like it should have been better. Honestly it’s worth renting just to watch the documentaries. They certainly got me fascinated by this era and the crime lords that ruled it.
i liked this movie, too. it was a bit long, and too many characters, like you say, but i thought it was fun. and i did a good bit of research afterwards and it seems to be pretty dang accurate, which always makes movies “based on true stories” better to me.
Plus, did you know this was shot with HD video cameras? It looked pretty good, especially on Blu-ray. I find this digital video revolution going on pretty cool.