Public Enemies, Michael Mann’s treatment of the Depression-era, is an aesthetic masterpiece that refuses to follow the rules of gangster filmmaking.
Mann, revered for directing Heat, The Last of the Mohicans and the biopic Ali, is known for taking his time with his films, and it pays off in Public Enemies. The film is about John Dillinger, the 1930s bank robber, and Melvin Purvis, FBI agent and head of the Chicago FBI office that is tasked with tracking down and apprehending him.
The two headliners, Christian Bale as Purvis and Johnny Depp as Dillinger, are superb. The characters they play, immortalized in dozens of films by many actors in the past 80 years, have become icons themselves. Dillinger is often portrayed as a Robin Hood figure that captured the nation’s attention with his charm and implacability and Purvis as a gritty, no-nonsense prot’eacute;g’eacute; of J. Edgar Hoover.
The film is excellent overall, but particularly shines in the area of casting. Depp plays a Dillinger that is both complex and emotionally relatable, but determinedly carefree and proud. With each new scene, he explores a greater range in a character that is captaining a sinking ship.
Bale’s performance is less spectacular; he wavers between competency and virtuosity in his treatment of what, in historical terms, is a very one-sided character.
Bale and Depp are complemented by an ensemble cast who look as though they were made for 1930 period pieces, with chiseled jaws, slicked-back hair and rapid-fire quips. Billy Crudup is the standout amongst the group, taking on the daunting role of J. Edgar Hoover, the head of the FBI. Crudup is a veritable iceberg. There is enough beneath the surface here to give his relatively short screen time a real punch.
The film features numerous convincing gun battles, perhaps a bit gratuitously, though there is no doubt they were a frequent occurrence during that period.
The cars in the film, are also flawlessly recreated. Dillinger, like Bonnie and Clyde, was obsessed with Fords. He even once wrote to Henry Ford to tell him that his cars were so superb, that when he stole a car, he only stole Fords.
Ultimately, Public Enemies looks as good as any period piece in recent memory and tells two simultaneous stories – the origins of modern crime fighting and the end of the greatest era of crime in American history – with depth and grace.
This may be the best movie made in years about the 1930s and it is almost certainly the best film so far.
Public Enemies
Rated: R
Starring: Johnny Depp, Christian Bale, Marion Cotillard
Verdict: Raises the bar for 1930s gangster films
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