"We're here for the bank's money, not yours"

Rating: Null/10 (4 July 2009)

When Michael Mann's new film Public Enemies (and first since the 2006 Miami Vice) became part of my "must-wanted" films for this year I never imagine that the day it opened in theaters of my city I was going to be thinking about the fact that it was shot in digital, sort of "worried" about the look of the film. Certainly during the past few days I read some criticism towards the look of this film and because of being sort of "worried" I came to give a quick look to a wikipedia list of films shot in digital and for example by seeing films like Steven Soderbergh's Che Part One in the list I was like "I don't remember even noticing the digital cinematography".
Maybe was just because this time with this film I was alert, I was ready to judge the digital thing and sure I was but I do think I would have noticed how "home made"-like Public Enemies looks at times if I would have went to the theater without reading any single comment of it. So now I can say, after seeing it yesterday on the big screen, that honestly yes, this doesn't looks like a big, period piece, production with an inspired Johnny Depp and an inspired Marion Cotillard should look but in the end, did the digital cinematography ruined Mann's Public Enemies for your humble commenter? No, simply no.
John Dillinger in this film can be resume with one scene: he's on the thing he does, which is of course robbing banks, when an old man gives to him his own money to avoid any possible and dangerous situation, certainly the man is afraid (how could not?) but in a way Dillinger "calms" the old man since he's there just for the bank's money and not for his or for hurting him. These actions are the ones that make obvious that a man like Dillinger will not be comfortable while working with a man like Baby Face Nelson (played in this film by the great Stephen Graham, who shined in Snatch and in This Is England), these actions are the ones that put an audience in the side of the criminals. And frankly Christian Bale, who is Melvin Purvis, "helps" since there's not much to remember about his character, actually is not Bale's fault (he is good) but is the big "Dillinger vs. Purvis" thing that doesn't delivers as I was expecting, it feels that Purvis is just another of the bunch of good guys and certainly I was expecting something much more memorable out of the Dillinger vs. Purvis stuff. So the audience is with Dillinger, there's enough material of both Dillinger's skills and intelligence and charisma and of the federals and just police's incompetent.
Some of what we have here are a couple of bank robs, a couple of breakouts, an intense shoot-out in the woods with the feds against Dillinger and Baby Face Nelson and company (this sequence was horribly affected by the digital cinematography), the difficult times for Dillinger, the love story of Dillinger and Evelyn Frechette (Marion Cotillard is superb) and the final moments of Dillinger. And is the final part of the film the one I found as the best and is mostly just for a magnificent and tense part with Marion Cotillard shining (is classic stuff, "Billie" resisting the brutality of a fed that for sure earns the total dislike of the audience, certainly is the typical situation of an interrogation but also is an incompetent fed relieving his anger against a woman who points how easy he fooled them, how Dillinger was there and they were stupid enough to leave him, it's a great part), a truly awesome part with Dillinger asking about the ball game toÂ…well for once I won't spoil you and a good if not great final part at the Biograph Theater.
This is a good, solid if not completely fascinating work by Michael Mann with a great performance by Depp that yet is for me far to be one of his finest. This could have been so much better and certainly not only technically, so yes the digital cinematography didn't ruined for me Public Enemies, it's not something that can't stop me in recommending it and I do recommend it but it's just not one that goes immediately to my list of favourite crime films