This Film Is Junk

Rating: 1/10 (1 July 2009)

"Public Enemies" is poorly directed, poorly acted, poorly shot, and especially, poorly written.
At no point was I convinced by any of the performances. Depp walks around looking smug throughout the film. That's not acting. I can look smug, anybody can look smug. All of the other performances were also two-dimensional (as in flat), but that has as much to do with the way the characters were written and the way the cast members were directed in their performances as it does with the actors' own abilities.
So far as the screenplay is concerned, when you take a real-life bank robber who did in fact shoot and kill innocent people and make him look heroic, that is disgusting. I live in Zion, Illinois, halfway between Chicago and Milwaukee. Much of Dillinger's life of crime is within an hour's drive from my home. His crimes and actions are well-known around here. He was a disgusting criminal, and it was a great day when he was gunned down outside the Biograph Theater.
Johnny Depp tried to justify Dillinger's life of crime by stating that he didn't rob people, but banks, in his promotional appearances. What does he think a bank is? When you rob a bank, you rob everyone who does business with that bank. If I have an account at a bank, whether it be a savings account, a checking account, a CD, or whatever, I am robbed, too, if that bank is robbed, because it is my money that is being taken, not the bank's money. Depp's words are nonsense. He bought into the legend instead of the facts.
Another awful thing about this film is the camera-work and cinematography. The camera moves and moves and moves, hardly sitting still and focusing on anything. Hold the camera still! Let's see a shot that lasts for more than a few seconds!
This film is offensive and it's the worst film I have seen at the theater so far this year.