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| Sunday, August 16, 2009 |
| Public Enemies [2009] |
Directed by Michael Mann (2009)
Stylish crime thrillers involving gangsters isn't anything new for Mr. Mann. He's considered to be one of the most skillful Hollywood directors to deal with that particular genre. Here we got him dealing with the story of John Dillinger, the notorious depression era bank robber and con artist. He's got a wonderful script by Ronan Bennett to work with, he's got Dante Spinotti's dynamic cinematography to add to the film's visual style and he's got the most skilled actors in our time to play the lead roles -- Johnny Depp, Christian Bale and Marion Cotillard. He's even got veteran lesser known stars like Leelee Sobieski, Stephen Dorff, Billy Crudup, Emilie de Ravin and Giovanni Ribisi to play his minor characters. The question, now, is whether he was successful to combine all these wonderful ingredients to make a truely wonderful film.
The answer is no. 'Public Enemies' is a good film, no doubt about that. But it somehow falls short of greatness that Mann achieved with his other thrillers like 'Collateral' or 'Heat'. With a very linear flow of mostly predictable story, the film becomes a good watch inside the theatre, but a forgettable just-another-film outside it. It doesn't deliver a surprise, even its style is very very predictable. Mann uses a typical Hollywood formula to make this film... with the usual and predictable amounts of guns, chases, romance and perky one-liners. Nothing original and unforgettable.
The cast, however, was a real treat. There's no point in discussing how great Mr. Depp was as Dillinger, because that will be an unavoidable repetition. Mr. Bale has been playing the same character in all of his movies lately -- be it Bruce Wayne, John Connor or Agent Purvas here. But it should also be said that he's playing that character with beautiful conviction and skill. I didn't see the point of casting a French actress (Oscar winner Marion Cotillard) in the role of a 1930s middle class American woman. If the reason was her acting capability, let me tell you, she was grossly underused in the film, except for the interrogation scene perhaps. As for her acting, she didn't master the accent, but whatever else she did in the limited opportunity was wonderful. The very limited role of another notorious criminal Baby Face Nelson was played by the unknown actor Stephen Graham, skillfully enough to earn his mention in this review.
To draw a conclusion, it was Johnny Depp who carries the film and keeps the viewers interested. His performance was passionate, heartfelt and absolutely convincing... prompting us to ask once again - is there any character he can't play?
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posted by Noisy Autist @ 9:14 PM  |
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