Movie Review: Public Enemies

June 27, 2009 by Brendan
Filed under: Movie News, Movie Reviews

In Public Enemies, Johnny Depp plays the legendary bank robber John Dillinger, a man who captured the attention of the American public during the years of The Great Depression with his brazen bank robberies, his audacious prison breaks, his impeccable charm and his flashy suits. Dillinger became somewhat of a folk hero but also became the number one objective for J. Edgar Hoover (played by Billy Crudup) and the FBI. Led by its top agent and equally snappy dresser, Melvin Purvis (Christian Bale), and a gang of Texan gunslingers, Hoover and the FBI set out to put an end to the Dillinger gang’s reign of terror on banks all across the United States. Public Enemies tells us a small part of this story.

The movie also stars the likes of Channing Tatum, Emilie de Ravin, Marion Cotillard, Giovanni Ribisi, Leelee Sobieski and Stephen Dorff. Make sure you don’t blink because you might miss some of these appearances!

The first thing that kind of stands out in Public Enemies is the fact that the movie is headlined by both Johnny Depp and Christian Bale – two of the most sought after and most outstanding actors in Hollywood today. Depp certainly doesn’t disappoint and steals most scenes in which he appears. One scene in particular, with Dillinger entering the Chicago Police Department, is simply fabulous. I found that Dillinger didn’t have much to say throughout the movie. He spent a lot of his time shooting guns, sweet-talking women or planning (and then bragging) about his bank heists. His dialogue did little to give us a whole lot of insight into the character – I would have liked to have seen a bit more of that.

Bale is also not given a lot to say or do, with most of his screen time being spent chasing after Dillinger. There is one scene where Dillinger and Purvis go face-to-face and I found it to be a bit of a letdown. Two of the great actors in the world today getting a chance to face off with each other. You figure someone could have wrote something compelling for them to say. It reminded me of another film by director Michael Mann – Heat. The scene between Pacino and DeNiro was captivating. Depp/Bale is nowhere close to it. That’s not to say that the two actors didn’t do a good job because they were both very good – in my opinion, Depp exceeded Bale. However, with the two of them looking eye-to-eye in the potentional showdown of the year, not much was said.

As for the action in the movie, the jailbreaks, the bank robberies and all the other shootouts were quite intense and very impressive. One particular interrogation scene is as uncomfortable and powerful a moment that we might see in a theater this year.

Overall, although Public Enemies is a very, very good movie, it was missing some storylines that I assume were not put into the movie on purpose by the creators of the film. We don’t get to know about the deep, dark secrets of John Dillinger – why he became the man he was. Melvin Purvis is as much a mystery. We know nothing of J. Edgar Hoover’s infamous obsession with Dillinger. We are even briefly introduced to Frank Nitti but again, little is told about one of the most notorious mobsters of the 1930’s and his association with the Dillinger gang. In fact, Nitti even comes off as somewhat of a decent guy, if you can believe that. Public Enemies is certainly not a movie that takes us deep into the history of the life John Dillinger or anyone associated with him. In this movie, we are thrown right into the middle of the bank-robbing years and taken through the height of those years and the subsequent pursuit by the FBI. It is not even fully explained that a lot of the public adored Dillinger, not only for his infamous charm but also because the country was in the fourth year of The Great Depression and people were happy to see someone taking it to the banks, who many blamed for the country’s financial woes. It is even said that Dillinger would destroy loan and mortgage records that the bank might be keeping. We don’t get any of that in the movie.

I actually purposely went into the movie knowing very little about the history of Dillinger. Of course I had heard his name in the past and also the names Baby Face Nelson, Pretty Boy Floyd and a few others. But watching the movie, I found it a bit hard to keep track of all the Pretty Boys, Baby Faces and what not and it made it slightly confusing at times. Since seeing Public Enemies, I have done some reading on Dillinger, Purvis and some of the other major players and it makes me want to see the movie again and follow it more carefully. I intend to do so as soon as it hits theaters.

In the end, I will say that Public Enemies is a good movie. I’ve heard a few people whisper the words “Oscar-worthy” but for me, it’s not quite there. Maybe with the Academy expanding the Best Picture nominations to 10 films, this is one that could slip in but it’s still early in the year and I would be surprised if gets remembered come January. Nevertheless, if you’re a fan of Depp, a fan of bank capers, a fan of shootouts, a fan of the 1930’s and a fan of The Great Depression, I recommend checking out Public Enemies. (8 out of 10)

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