Public Enemies Review

Michael Mann is a mystery to me...while I will always esteem him for one of the best cop shows of all time, Miami Vice and one of my personal all time favorite movies, The Last of the Mohicans (You stay alive!), Public Enemies was somewhat of a disappointment for me. It seemed a no lose situation, the mythical John Dillinger story...Johnny Depp in the lead role...Mann as director, I was practically salivating at the prospect. But this film seemed leeched of any original message or theme, being a lot of flash pots and great camera work with ballyhoo but little substance.

Which was a shame, really. While Mann is one of the better technical directors working today, even he cannot uplift what seems rather stilted and predictable. Mann could have, with the right script and with Depp in hand, could have delivered us an outlaw/criminal story of the first order, perhaps another Bonnie and Clyde, The Untouchables, or The Wild Bunch all of which had something interesting to talk about in the midst of all the gun battles, explosions, and car or horse chases.

Why do we esteem and mythologize figures like Dillinger, Billy the Kid, Bonnie and Clyde, or Butch Cassidy? These figures, who are little more than figures after being elaborated on for generations by an adoring public, have become folk icons....representative of that rowdy, creative American spirit to be different and to walk different paths. All of the best criminal movies weigh in on this very American way of regarding bad men and women...but you see little of this in Public Enemies. Public Enemies seems to want to just present the facts as much as that is possible with fine images artistically and technically presented, but are you left merely with gorgeous images, nothing to connect with as fellow human beings.

Sure, it has Johnny Depp, who seems to embody this unique, rebellious, creative persona not only in the movies but also in his personal life and career. But Depp is so very low key in this film as many of the actors are, as if they or Mann were simply not interested in commenting or elaborating on the legend of John Dillinger. Depp would sometimes look off in the distance longingly or even spare a wink for the camera and the audience behind it, perhaps to suggest some sort of self reflection or awareness about what was happening. And then the moment would be lost even as we lean forward to hear Depp's wisdom.

If all Public Enemies wanted to be was a slickly produced action flick using the 1930's as it's stage then Public Enemies might work very well ultimately. But I felt that when this film was first released the goal and shift was for an elaborate comment on outlawry, celebrity in America, the loss of some sense of the American frontier spirit or simply a man lost in his time with the World gathering swiftly to move on to the next big thing. In a society where people stage situations with lost children in balloons to create celebrity and the money that comes with it, we are in dire need of a film like Public Enemies to be on it's game. Public Enemies somehow just lost the high ground in all the hustle and bustle of it all. It could have been so much more.

TH Review's rating of Public Enemies: 3.5 stars out of five!