A far simpler and less impressive film than it should have been.

Rating: 5/10 (10 August 2009)

In the 1930s J Edgar Hoover (Billie Crudup) formed a team of specialist FBI agents to combat the dangerous nature of bank robbers. One of the most notorious criminals was John Dillinger (Johnny Depp) who became infamous for robbing banks and supposedly giving people their money back. Dillinger in pursued in Public Enemies by appointed agent Melvin Purvis (Christian Bale), who is determined to bring him to justice, despite the inadequacy of the rest of his squad. Throughout the film Dillinger also meets and romances a young woman named Billie Frechette (Marion Cotillard), who tells him that she has had nothing exciting happen in her life. She is taken in by Dillinger's lifestyle and his commanding control over her.
Adapted from the book Public Enemies: America's Greatest Crime Wave and the Birth of the FBI, 1933-34 Michael Mann's new film suffers from many of the same problems that plagued his screen version of Miami Vice. Public Enemies promises several talented actors but wastes much of their experience and potential with a flat script that opts for action rather than a thorough examination of Dillinger's psychology. We learn very little about Dillinger throughout the film and much of the dialogue in the script is uninteresting and doesn't provide Johnny Depp with the chance to exude the same amount of arrogance that the film commands. For one of the most charismatic actors in Hollywood he is strangely flat in this role, with a largely monotone voice and an effort to only look cool. What persuaded Dillinger to rob banks and to continue to do so amidst the increasing danger, is something the film refuses to answer. Christian Bale tries hard with little dialogue and his robotic nature fits more firmly with his military-like precision and determination to bring down Dillinger. Marion Cotillard is solid as Dillinger's lover Billie Frechette, but like many of the characters in the film we never understand her commitment to the gangster. There is perhaps only a single line of dialogue that hints at her attraction, when she tells him that she has never done anything exciting in her life. For a relationship that forms such a significant portion of the film, it feels overly simplistic. David Wenham, Giovanni Ribisi and Channing Tatum also star, but have very minor roles. The significance of such flat characters is that it weakens the emotional impact of the film. Once Dillinger reaches his fate outside a movie theatre, we do not know how to feel for someone we knew so little about.
Had the film been told from Purvis' perspective, it would of at least had more motivation. As it stands there doesn't seem to be any real point to the narrative and the film quickly becomes like a series of anecdotes about Dillingers crimes. The narrative resides almost monotonously between the bank robberies, the FBI chasing Dillinger or his escape. Given that the film was shot on digital most of the action scenes - despite the hand-held camera work - are actually quite intense, with some exquisite, booming sound effects. Yet none of these sequences reach the heights of Mann's best moments, like the club scene from Collateral. It is also disappointing that in Mann's direction he rarely captures the irony of Dillinger celebrity. We never understand why people in the street wave to him as he is taken away in a police car. Or when Dillinger walks into a police station and examines the photographs of himself on the wall, we can only ask why he did this. What should have been a great scene exuding arrogance and a rich sense of irony is left flat because of a nearly empty room and a lack of danger.
Despite a lengthy running time of nearly two and a half hours, there are also some scenes that feel strangely compressed, suggesting that along with some of the brief roles of the actors, that the film may have been significantly cut. Many of the bank robbery scenes are quite short and there is little exposition at the beginning of the film. A moment where J Edgar Hoover is demanding help arrest the gangsters is sown together with his immediate presentation of Melvin Purvis to the public. Similarly, Pretty Boy Floyd only has a single moment on screen before he is shot dead at the beginning of the film.
Public Enemies with both its cast and director demanded a more sophisticated screenplay. The film has opted for the easiest route, turning Dillinger's life into a action film, refusing to answer the hard, perhaps almost impossible questions, of what fuelled his ego. Mann seems more interested in style rather than biographical elements or questions of celebrity, making this a far simpler and less impressive film than it should have been.