"Public Enemies" is a good summer movie %u2013 perfect for a 4th of July long weekend for those people who will not be getting away. A few critics have been groaning that this film had the potential to be a %u2018Great Movie%u2019 %u2013 whatever that means %u2013 forget them and have fun.
Given the talented cast and crew, expectations were sky high. Michael Mann directs the story of John Dillinger with Johnny Depp as the bank robber and Marion Cotillard as his girlfriend. Christian Bale is on hand as the FBI agent obsessed with bringing Dillinger in, one way or another.
Depp sparkles as Dillinger, a criminal at the height of his powers. The Depression drags on, and people see Dillinger as a hero; he robs banks, not the people in them ("I'm not here for your money," he tells a man who has offered his cash). He lives completely in the moment, either unaware that the good times won't last forever or maybe he just does not care.
Christian Bale is miscast as Melvin Purvis, and stuck with and awful Southern accent (even more annoying than his weird groan in the last Terminator movie). The idea, evidently, is that Purvis and Dillinger are equally devoted to their tasks, even if they're on opposite sides of the law%u2026kinda like Deniro and Pacino in Heat.
Mann's work as director is technically brilliant. Close-ups are used extensively so that you don't break eye contact with the characters. In one scene, as Dillinger runs through a forest at night, Mann keeps the frame on Depp's face, while in the background, employing a depth-of-field Hitchc*** might envy, we see feds scrambling behind him. The effect increases the tension and looks great.
In fact, despite Depp's best efforts, and Cotillard's always-luminous presence, Director Mann is the star here, even if there's a distance between the audience and the film that can't quite be overcome. The effort, on all fronts, is outstanding. The execution, alas, particularly in the case of Bale's character, is not%u2026but still, this is a summer movie to enjoy.