an honest review of Public Enemies

Rating: 3/10 (1 July 2009)

Public Enemies is a good idea in theory, especially with the phenomenal Johnny Depp as John Dillinger. John Dillinger was a legendary bank robber in the 30s. He was a symbol of hope to society in a time when the government was unjust and greedy. He was known for his many bank heists along with his many romantic conquests. This movie does not show that at all. Public Enemies is far longer than it needs to be and it just drags on and on. The only thing keeping me from walking out was Johnny Depp's fantastic performance. Christian Bale is an amazing actor and he could have been in this movie too, if he didn't keep switching from about 5 different accents. Which was extremely distracting and annoying. The camera work and directing is disgraceful and headache inducing. It was obvious that Michael Mann (the director) was going for a realistic, almost documentary-like movie. All it did was make things confusing and frustrating. It was extremely hard to tell what was going on throughout the entire movie (and this is a long movie) and most of the movie was spent wondering what the heck is going on. Then there was the "romance." It didn't seem believable and just dragged on while seeming utterly pointless. I have no idea why Hollywood seems to think that it MUST have a romance as part of the main plot. Dillinger and Frechette's romance was greatly dramatized in the movie. If this entire romance had been thrown out the movie would be much shorter and there could have been room for an actual plot and some action. I mean, seriously, only 3 bank heists, seriously?
There are so many things wrong with this movie's plot. First off, nothing is explained. Ever. Why does John Dillinger rob banks? Why were the people on the streets cheering him on? Who are pretty-boy Floyd and baby-face nelson? The writers of a movie cannot just assume the audience knows the movie's background. Second off, they really needed to mention the other things going on in this time. Like, you know a little thing called the Great Depression and the other Public Enemies, such as Bonnie and Clyde. Third, why the hell was this rated R? The reason given is "gangster violence and some language." For what was in this movie, it could easily have been rated PG-13. Fourth, Why was Billy Crudup's accent so ridiculous and yet no one else's was? All of the accents in this movie were ridiculous, except that of Johnny Depp. Billy Crudup really should have had more screen time and maybe the movie would have made some sense. Marion Cotillard's screen time needed to be cut in half, at the least. Another irksome thing about this movie was that it didn't show a single one of Dillinger's jackrabbit-like moves he was famous for. Public Enemies also did not show John Dillinger in a positive light. He was known as a sort of Robin Hood and that was not apparent in this movie.
Johnny Depp's acting is the only redeemable part of this movie and the only reason I did not walk out, but this is not enough to see a movie. Do not see this movie, unless you enjoy having your brain raped.