Public Enemies is a film riddled with great performances, an excellent plot, and some amazing direction. Michael Mann has pieced together a beautiful picture.

Public Enemies follows the story of bank robber and notorious gangster, John Dillinger; played by Johnny Depp (Pirates of the Caribbean, Sweeny Todd). Christian Bale (The Dark Knight, Terminator Salvation) plays Melvin Purvis, the cop whose main objective is to capture and arrest John Dillinger. The film is based on the true story of John Dillinger and is actually an adaptation of Bryan Burrough’s book Public Enemies: America’s Greatest Crime Wave and the Birth of the FBI, 1933–34.

Every single person in this film gives a fantastic performance. Some of the actors are barely recognizable. The cast includes: Billy Crudup (Watchmen) as J. Edgar Hoover, Channing Tatum (Step Up) as Pretty Boy Floyd, Giovanni Ribisi (Saving Private Ryan) as Alvin Karpis, Stephen Dorff (Backbeat, Cecile B. Demented) as Homer Van Meter, and David Wenham (Lord of the Rings) as Harry ‘Pete’ Pierpont.

Johnny Depp is as great as usual. This won’t garner him any Oscars or even a nomination but he delivers a very subtly, powerful performance. Depp’s performance of Dillinger makes you root for him despite the innumerable amount of crimes he’s committed. There’s not much to say about Depp’s performance other than, if you’re a fan of his work then here’s another one for the books.

Marion Cotillard (La Vie en rose) is equally great in this film. She plays Billie Frechette, Dillinger’s girlfriend. Cotillard definitely has the most emotionally demanding role of the cast. Of particular note is a scene in which she is captured by the police, who are looking for Dillinger. It’s a gut-wrenching performance.

I’m personally not a fan of Christian Bale, but here he fills his spot well. Melvin Purvis is a cop with a sole purpose: to catch and condemn John Dillinger. There isn’t much of an emotional or even dramatic demand here but, admittedly, Bale works very well with what he has.

What really brings the entire film together is Michael Mann’s visual style. I’m not sure how he did it, but the look of the film is beautiful and unique. I don’t really know how to describe it. At times, it looks real and almost documentary like. It’s just something you’ll have to see for yourself.

It appears that the way films are being made is changing, the same as back when films were overacted and started to become more natural. There is a definitive new style being born and Public Enemies, though it may not be the game changer that everyone remembers, does bring a new style to the world of film.

This film has action, performance, and gorgeous direction. Watch it and see some truly great and original filmmaking.

This entry was posted on Monday, June 29th, 2009 at 10:34 pm and is filed under 4, Doug Anderson, Film Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.