He Said, She Said: Public Enemies
By D. James Ruccio III
July 7, 2009
BoxOfficeProphets.com
Public Enemies is the latest film by Michael Mann. In it Mann takes his familiar affection for the world of cops and criminals and plays with one of the more iconic American confrontations between the two sides of the modern era.
It stars Johnny Depp as John Dillinger, the infamous Depression era bank robber, and Christian Bale as FBI Agent Melvin Purvis, tasked with stopping his bloody rampage.
Public Enemies is essentially a very decent chase film and a slightly less enjoyable character study. Depp, who has a fondness for extravagant characters, engages the role with his considerable talents and innate likeability. He easily captures Dillinger's roguish charm and dangerous sexuality. The film easily demonstrates Dillinger's understanding and affection for nurturing his public persona. Like other of Mann's characters, such as Muhammad Ali, Dillinger masterfully manipulates the media to further his own goals. Depp also easily portrays Dillinger's hedonistic, fatalism-fueled life style. He often puts off confronting the reality of his life, fully expecting that he will not have to contend with it. He says to his girlfriend, Billie Frechette (Marion Cotillard) at one point that he enjoys "fast cats, whiskey and...you." The few permanent people in his life are, however, painfully aware that his life as lived will be short and end violently.
Dillinger's nemesis, FBI Agent Melvin Purvis, is played by Bale. In Public Enemies, Agent Purvis is less vivid and compelling than Dillinger, whether this is by way of the script or performance I am not sure. He is often a simple foil for Dillinger and in some cases the new FBI authority represented by Billie Crudup's maniacal FBI Director Herbert Hoover. The character morally treads a line between Dillinger's overt lawbreaking and the covert abuse of authority by Hoover (and his minions). But yet again, Bale's performance is overshadowed by either the action sequences or other performances. He is never his own character on par with Dillinger. This makes three movies now where Bale is seemingly not up to the task of his characters or costars. With the seeming reservoir of deep intensity, I keep waiting for it to translate into a performance. He was not able to utilize it in either The Dark Knight or in Terminator Salvation. It's become disappointing to sense great talents that never are completely realized into a full performance.
Cotillard, the adorable Best Actress Oscar winner for Lie Vie en Rose, portrays Dillinger's girlfriend Billie Frechette. She is slyly attracted to Dillinger as a naive girl who has experienced little in the way of people and places. But she quickly realizes that she has been seduced by the adventure of his life. She tells him, "You're a test."
The casting of the movie is exceptional as casting manager Diane Dionne skillfully rounds out the movie with very good actors (anyone that gives Stephen Lang work has my thanks). Somehow, most of the supporting cast looks like they belong in a movie in the 1930s. I have no idea if people of the time looked different or if it's more likely that it's an affect of the movies of the time but the look of the cast is fun. It's just this side of realistic without appearing to be a creation of Frank Miller.
The film was shot in part digitally and in a very documentarian style. It utilizes extremely tight facial close-ups, odd angles and vivid clarity. As a fan of Mann's films, I believe the director's skill in cinematography is obvious. He often takes moments to show something visually striking and beautiful. He will sometimes push a character aside in the frame to draw the audience's eye to something. Different from some of his techniques in previous movies, he often chooses to focus on ordinary objects - the relief pattern on a wall, a small formation of rocks, snow reflected off the side of car or fog in a forest. Fans of Mann's ability to present exquisite pictures will enjoy these little flourishes throughout.
Equally familiar to fans of Mann's movies is his ability to craft an exceptional soundtrack. He has gathered several people from previous films (Bob Badami and Kathy Nelson as music supervisors, Steve Durkee as supervising musical editor and Todd Kasow as music editor) who put together a well constructed soundtrack of period pieces from Billie Holiday, homages by Diana Krall and a standout song by Otis Taylor, "Ten Million Slaves" which gives the commercial and trailer its rousing tempo. The song is featured during several scenes and works well every time.
The film excels at allowing Depp to show off his acting ability, but misses in several key elements. In order to see how successful Dillinger was at crafting his image, the audience is never shown in any depth the conditions and environment that allowed him to prosper in the first place. There are only fleeting glimpses of Depression era America. It was this environment which, in part, helped Dillinger succeed as he manipulated the public in their own wish fulfillment fantasies, but it is rarely seen. There is a scene where Dillinger is being taken to jail in large car, and he waves to a crowd that has begun to line the streets as though he is worthy of a parade. However, almost no effort is given to showing the conditions that allowed the rise of Dillinger's celebrity.
Still, there are additional elements in the performance that give it slightly more depth. While Depp's man-child Dillinger (yet another character in which Johnny Depp's character hovers between childishness and maturity) travels through his life deliberately avoiding confronting the consequences of his actions, he occasionally is forced to face them. Whether it's the look in the eyes of a dying man who has led a similar life, or reviewing the documentary evidence of his life collected by the authorities, or most dramatically when Billie is put in danger, it is these small glimpses that show just how hard Dillinger works to not consider the consequences. It's these scenes that serve as pay-off and give meaning to the rest of the performance. And Depp is also able to weave into the performance the ever increasing pressure Dillinger must have felt as bank heists get tougher, more of his contemporaries are captured or killed, and the authorities begin to close in.
The film also interestingly spends time exploring the very relevant modern theme of extra-judicial authority as Billie Crudup's Hoover manipulates the very same public into helping him create the powerful FBI. With the antagonist of John Dillinger, Hoover solidifies the power of the FBI by using the fear of the apparent arch criminal even as his agents mercilessly torture a gravely wounded man and in an even more striking scene torture a woman. The brutality is shocking and an obvious suggestion about our modern question regarding secret prisons and torture techniques. And Hoover's use of Dillinger as a threat is an easy parallel to some of today's issues involving terrorism. In fact, the very title may allude to the sometimes murky morality employed by the authorities charged with protecting us from...Dillinger.
In the end, the film stands on the strength of Depp, the supporting cast, the imagery and the soundtrack. There is, however, the sense that the movie never realizes all its potential. With all the talent available behind and in front of the camera, it felt less than it should have been. It's an enjoyable enough film, but somehow it never fully solidifies into a strong and full movie.