Other than Johnny and Marion, a complete mess

Rating: 3/10 (6 July 2009)

I had great hopes for this one because I'm a huge Johnny Depp fan. But within just a few minutes, I was wondering if I was going to make it through the movie considering that the bobbling camera made it seem more related to "The Blair Witch Project" and "Cloverfield" than its trailer, which promised a Michael Mann experience (clean visuals, good shots). Most of the time, it seemed the film was shot by a Dillinger gang groupie doing a "YouTube" piece with badly framed shots, shots from over people's shoulders, and shots made with the camera moving so weirdly that it was difficult to know what the viewer should focus on. Combine that with poor sound, and just figuring out what was going on became a challenge.
In addition, although I understand some artistic license can be granted in terms of historical accuracy, this one went out of its way to confuse the time line (especially as regards to what happened to gangsters other than Dillinger).
Overall, the film lacked focus. If it was about public enemies in general, than why the concentration on Dillinger to the point that other gangsters seemed like bit players? If it was about the clash between Dillinger and Purvis, why not give Christian Bale more to work with regarding character and motivation than simply looking stony-faced? If it was about the role of the FBI and how it changed during the era, then why not fully develop that theme instead of having just a couple of throwaway scenes? Instead the much-too-long running time was spent on things "relevant" for the times (i.e., is torturing a legitimate interrogation technique?).
I give kudos to Johnny Depp and Marion Cotillard for making the most of what they had to work with and pulling off some very watchable scenes. But next time, perhaps the director should concentrate on making a really good Michael Mann movie instead of a movie that seemed to be deliberately breaking every rule that usually characterizes a Michael Mann film.