It might be appropriate to say Public Enemies is an epic movie. At 2 ½ hours, this “based on a true story” needs to be entertaining, informative and lasting.
The problem is that Public Enemies isn't a movie that will stay with me for years. Sure, there are several awesome moments, but on the whole, there really isn't a lot of pizazz.
That's because it is a gangster movie that plays like a western and doesn't do either particularly well. It's a cat and mouse, cops and robbers movie and spends too much time telling us that, than getting to the point. I accept this fact in westerns, but not in gangster flicks.
And I don't know what is the point of Public Enemies. Is it just to tell the career history of John Dillinger (Johnny Depp)? Is it to tell those of us who researched the real gangster or think all gangsters are mean, nasty people that they actually have an emotional side? I just don't know, and for that I cannot put this movie anywhere near the top of its genre.
That honor goes to movies like The Godfather, American Gangster and The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Crawford. Public Enemies failed to grab hold of me and keep me thoroughly enthralled to the end.
That doesn't mean it was a bad movie, just that it isn't much more than your average gangster biopic. Too much of the film is devoted to the set up and not enough to the execution.
Dillinger breaks out of prison to start the film and spends the rest of it on the run from J. Edgar Hoover's (Billy Crudup) crime-fighting all-stars. The captain of the police crew is Melvin Purvis (Christian Bale), who is renowned for his ability to eliminate public enemies.
The whole movie is spent watching Purvis and his bumbling posse try and track down Dillinger. Meanwhile, Dillinger is trying to make it back to “his girl” Billie (Marion Cotillard). I didn't believe one second of the love story, which is crucial to making this film work.
It gives depth to the character and the film. The audience needs to feel for the bad guy in order to be surprised by their reactions if he gets in a tight spot. But Depp and Cotillard's chemistry is pathetic. It was as if each was talking to a cement wall instead of each other. My formula: No love = No care.
There is so much more that could have been done with Dillinger, but Michael Mann, who directed and co-wrote the movie, failed to explore Dillinger's intelligence.
Look at American Gangster. There, Frank Lucas (Denzel Washington) is ruthless, brutal, but very smart. He gets away with more crime than the mafia did at the same time. And that's not hyperbole.
Dillinger, the man, had to be a smart guy. For one, he coordinated multiple prison breaks, evaded authorities several times. We, as an audience, don't really get to see how he did it. Of course, we see the way he breaks out, but none of the planning. For me, that detracted from the character.
Dillinger, the man, was a legendary gangster I wanted to learn about. Public Enemies didn't teach me much about him. At the end, Dillinger is still just a legend, but I don't know him like I do Frank Lucas or Jesse James.
Feeling like you know him, of course, is all hinged on buying into the character Depp creates and Mann wrote. I didn't and the movie fell flat. You might, and the movie will soar. It's unfortunate it takes all 2 ½ hours to figure out. There won't be many saying that Public Enemies is just all right. I won't watch it again, but still glad I saw it once. Three stars.
