Public Enemies

Michael Mann’s latest has some serious talent backing up a great story with so many sensationalist elements it’s amazing it’s remained so under-represented at the movies until now. This is the story of John Dillinger, the notorious bank robber, gangster and all-round bad egg who alternately terrorised and enthralled 30s America with his criminal exploits.

Like the man himself, what we get here is a curiously schizophrenic movie in both style and substance. Mann has gone for some fine, very detailed photography, Tommy-Guns bucking with nary a hint of motion-blur, adding a glacial edge to procedings that slightly dislocates the viewer. Unusually for the director, there’s an awful lot of handy-cam going on, with unusual angles that unfortunately combine with the slightly unreal aesthetic to give the whole a video game sheen. It’s exciting, sure, but it’s also extremely difficult to get emotionally involved.

Likewise, Bale and Depp seem like they’re in completely different films. Depp’s performance is forceful and full of glee, giving a powerful insight into the reasons a bloody killer like Dillinger became something of a folk hero – a modern Robin Hood at the time. His exploits are wild and often deplorable, but carried out with a panache that makes it hard not to admire and even support the man.

It’s tempting to call Bale’s performance dull, but it’s hard to tell if this is another example of the actor losing his way (as seen in several of his recent outings), or the perfect representation of a small, dull FBI man out of his depth, unable to cope with the fame and expectation bestowed upon him by successfully nabbing ‘Pretty boy’ Floyd, and making him subject to the whims of an obsessive J.Edgar Hoover; A heavily made-up and ridiculously accented Billy Crudup, who seems to be having almost as much fun as Depp.

This is however, very much Depp’s film, his performance recalling the slightly manic edge we first saw in Ed Wood, as Dillinger embraces the criminal lifestyle behind bars, Depp showcases the force of personality needed to create Dillinger gangs mark 1 & 2, flirting with disaster as well as the press, and creating an enduring mythology for himself in the process.

Playing out like a midwest version of ‘Heat’, Mann nevertheless manages to distance this from his earlier (and, it has to be said, superior) flick through extreme attention to detail and a willingness to reinvent his action directing, each scene tied up tighter than the morals of Prohibition era America.

A solid mix of drama and action, with some commendable performances. It may well divide audiences and critics. A strong character piece that would benefit from a tighter edit, but still has much to recommend it.

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