A nice escape from the summer blockbusters

Rating: 6/10 (11 July 2009)

Firstly, the performances in Public Enemies are terrific all across the board. Johnny Depp (who, even despite being one of my all-time favorite actors, I was initially a bit skeptical about), especially, is perfect as John Dillinger. Literally, from minute one, you buy into his character. Obviously, we're still far from "Oscar Season", but I'd honestly be a bit surprised if Depp didn't – at least – get nominated for his performance in this film. Now, Christian Bale, much like in Terminator Salvation, isn't given as much to work with in terms of his character. Unlike his performance in McG's latest film, however (and contrary to what most people have said), Bale does an extremely solid job here, doing the best with what he's got.
The action sequences, too, are surprisingly well done. Everything is pushed just to the edge of reality, while not becoming too frenetic or too unbelievable for a film like this. However, perhaps the greatest strength of Public Enemies is how it manages to capture the feel of the 1930's. Everything, from the settings and costume design, right down the dialogue, comes together to really bring you back to that time.
Now, on the negative side of things, I never once bought into the relationship between John Dillinger and Billie Frechette. Dillinger just looks at her once, and instantly falls in love with her. On top of that, I didn't feel that there was any chemistry between the two of them. With love being such a huge motivating factor in what Dillinger does, it makes their lack of "spark" a real problem for me. This lack of character development carries through the rest of the film, though. Every character (excluding Depp's) feels extremely one-dimensional, despite the solid performances of the actors portraying them.
The story doesn't flow very well either, making the movie feel more like a series of clips (as enjoyable as they may be to watch) randomly strung together. While I still really enjoyed Public Enemies, it's these shortcomings that kept it from being a truly great film for me.