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A Gangster Whose Last Name Doesn't End in a Vowel: A Review of Public Enemies (2009)
With such crime films as Thief (1981), Heat (1995), and Collateral (2004) under his belt, director Michael Mann does not disappoint with his new film: Public Enemies. Johnny Depp starts in an Oscar worthy role as John Dillinger, the charismatic depression-era bank robber whose escapades landed him on the top of the FBI’s most wanted list. The film also stars Christian Bale as Melvin Purvis, the FBI Agent charged with bringing Dillinger to justice, and Marion Cotillard, who plays Dillinger’s gun moll, Billy Frechette.
Aside from great acting all around, the cinematography is one of the better parts of the film. Some scenes of Public Enemies not only makes you feel like you are standing behind Dillinger and his gang while shooting it out with G-Men, but a few first person shots make you feel that you yourself are wielding a Tommy gun, running through the streets of Chicago.
Mann adds to the reality of the film by shooting at the actual locations where shootouts took place. Mann shot at the Crown Point Jail, Little Bohemia Lodge, and the Biograph Theater, where Dillinger was assassinated.
In the ongoing debate between “HD vs. film”, Public Enemies may prove to be the ace in the hole that settles the argument. There are just some things that look better on HD rather than on film, and one of those things is scenes that take place at night. Several scenes, especially the Little Bohemia shootout, are beautifully crafted at night, thanks to HD.
Composer Elliot Goldenthal, who also scored Michael Mann’s Heat, returns with a beautiful score that carries the film.
And in one of the most dramatic scenes of the movie, where Dillinger is at the Biograph watching his last film, Manhattan Melodrama (1934), Mann actually puts in real footage of the film; which makes the scene unforgettable.
Now that I’ve totally sucked this movie’s dick, let me tell you a couple of things that bothered me about it.
First is the total lack of development of Christian Bale’s character, Melvin Purvis.
Christian Bale doesn’t have nearly enough screen time in this film. In a film with a similar formula to Heat, one would think it would be filmed in that matter. I’m not saying he has to have the exact amount of screen time as Depp, but just enough for the audience to really give a **** about his character. I’m not blaming Bale for his character being a little uninteresting; I’m sure if he had more time to work with the role on screen it would have been an award winning performance. When we finally learn the fate of Melvin Purvis at the end of the film on a title card, unless you are familiar with the history of the time period, you don’t really give a ****. There is a great rise and fall story that could have not only been told with Dillinger in the film, but also Melvin Purvis.
Another problem I have with the film is its historical accuracy. I realize that it’s impossible to adapt a true story into a film and be 100% accurate, I get that. But the movie goes out of its way to be historically accurate in some places (like Ana Sage not wearing red, Purvis not being one of the agents that shot Dillinger, and Frank Nitti’s character. Take that The Untouchables (1987)), and goes out of its way sometimes to be historically inaccurate. Like:
(Just to grab a frame of reference, John Dillinger died on July 22nd, 1934.)
-The first gangster shot in the film by Purvis, before Dillinger’s death, Pretty Boy Floyd (Channing Tatum), in real life died onOctober 22, 1934, three months after Dillinger.
-In the film Baby Face Nelson (Stephen Graham) and Homer Van Meter (Stephen Dorff) both died in/shortly after a car crash that takes place before Dillinger’s death. In reality Baby Face Nelson died on November 27, 1934, and Homer Van Meter died on August 23rd, 1934, after Dillinger was shot.
-Harry 'Pete' Pierpont (David Wenham) was also killed before Dillinger in the film. Where as in real life he was captured by authorities and was executed on October 17, 1934, again after Dillinger was shot.
Seeing a pattern here?
-The film also suggests that Dillinger, and other bank robbers as well, had a relationship with Phil D'Andrea (John Ortiz), a member of the Chicago Outfit who worked for its post Capone-era boss, Frank Nitti (Billy Camp). The only bank robbers who had any kind of relationship with the Chicago Outfit were both the Barkers and Alvin Karpis.
-The film also fabricates a long term relationship between Alvin Karpis and John Dillinger, which didn’t happen.
-Dillinger also received plastic surgery shortly before his death, (which the film leaves out), which started the controversy rather it was actually Dillinger who was shot at the Biograph, or someone else.
And I’m not saying that all the historical interpretation is bad.
I liked that fact that the film suggest that the Mafia had a hand in Dillinger’s death.
I was surprised with the direction Mann took with the film. While he had a chance to make a truly epic story about the genesis of the FBI, the Kansas City Massacre, the first good, then disastrous relationship between Melvin Purvis and J. Edgar Hoover, and the stories of other Public Enemies, Mann chose to focus on just the exploits of John Dillinger alone.
I’m also surprised that one of the characters in this film never got his own movie.
The character Giovanni Ribisi plays in the film, Alvin Karpis, has one of the most epic stories ever told. Not only was he a bank robber/kidnapper with the Barker Gang, but he himself has come face to face with Chicago Outfit boss, Frank Nitti. He was also the last “Public Enemy” to be captured. He was arrested by Hoover himself in New Orleans on May 1, 1936. After that he was thrown in Alcatraz from 1936 to April 1962. After Alcatraz was closed in 1962, he was transferred to McNeil Island Penitentiary in Washington.State. Karpis was released on parole in 1969 and deported to Canada.; he moved to Spain and died on August 26, 1979.
Just as he was the last “Public Enemy” to be captured, he was also the last one to die. He out lived all of his former peers at the time, and he even lived to see the death of J. Edgar Hoover.
Even though not 100% percent accurate, I don’t let that get in the way of me liking Public Enemies.
RATING:
With such crime films as Thief (1981), Heat (1995), and Collateral (2004) under his belt, director Michael Mann does not disappoint with his new film: Public Enemies. Johnny Depp starts in an Oscar worthy role as John Dillinger, the charismatic depression-era bank robber whose escapades landed him on the top of the FBI’s most wanted list. The film also stars Christian Bale as Melvin Purvis, the FBI Agent charged with bringing Dillinger to justice, and Marion Cotillard, who plays Dillinger’s gun moll, Billy Frechette.
Aside from great acting all around, the cinematography is one of the better parts of the film. Some scenes of Public Enemies not only makes you feel like you are standing behind Dillinger and his gang while shooting it out with G-Men, but a few first person shots make you feel that you yourself are wielding a Tommy gun, running through the streets of Chicago.
Mann adds to the reality of the film by shooting at the actual locations where shootouts took place. Mann shot at the Crown Point Jail, Little Bohemia Lodge, and the Biograph Theater, where Dillinger was assassinated.
In the ongoing debate between “HD vs. film”, Public Enemies may prove to be the ace in the hole that settles the argument. There are just some things that look better on HD rather than on film, and one of those things is scenes that take place at night. Several scenes, especially the Little Bohemia shootout, are beautifully crafted at night, thanks to HD.
Composer Elliot Goldenthal, who also scored Michael Mann’s Heat, returns with a beautiful score that carries the film.
And in one of the most dramatic scenes of the movie, where Dillinger is at the Biograph watching his last film, Manhattan Melodrama (1934), Mann actually puts in real footage of the film; which makes the scene unforgettable.
Now that I’ve totally sucked this movie’s dick, let me tell you a couple of things that bothered me about it.
First is the total lack of development of Christian Bale’s character, Melvin Purvis.
Christian Bale doesn’t have nearly enough screen time in this film. In a film with a similar formula to Heat, one would think it would be filmed in that matter. I’m not saying he has to have the exact amount of screen time as Depp, but just enough for the audience to really give a **** about his character. I’m not blaming Bale for his character being a little uninteresting; I’m sure if he had more time to work with the role on screen it would have been an award winning performance. When we finally learn the fate of Melvin Purvis at the end of the film on a title card, unless you are familiar with the history of the time period, you don’t really give a ****. There is a great rise and fall story that could have not only been told with Dillinger in the film, but also Melvin Purvis.
Another problem I have with the film is its historical accuracy. I realize that it’s impossible to adapt a true story into a film and be 100% accurate, I get that. But the movie goes out of its way to be historically accurate in some places (like Ana Sage not wearing red, Purvis not being one of the agents that shot Dillinger, and Frank Nitti’s character. Take that The Untouchables (1987)), and goes out of its way sometimes to be historically inaccurate. Like:
(Just to grab a frame of reference, John Dillinger died on July 22nd, 1934.)
-The first gangster shot in the film by Purvis, before Dillinger’s death, Pretty Boy Floyd (Channing Tatum), in real life died onOctober 22, 1934, three months after Dillinger.
-In the film Baby Face Nelson (Stephen Graham) and Homer Van Meter (Stephen Dorff) both died in/shortly after a car crash that takes place before Dillinger’s death. In reality Baby Face Nelson died on November 27, 1934, and Homer Van Meter died on August 23rd, 1934, after Dillinger was shot.
-Harry 'Pete' Pierpont (David Wenham) was also killed before Dillinger in the film. Where as in real life he was captured by authorities and was executed on October 17, 1934, again after Dillinger was shot.
Seeing a pattern here?
-The film also suggests that Dillinger, and other bank robbers as well, had a relationship with Phil D'Andrea (John Ortiz), a member of the Chicago Outfit who worked for its post Capone-era boss, Frank Nitti (Billy Camp). The only bank robbers who had any kind of relationship with the Chicago Outfit were both the Barkers and Alvin Karpis.
-The film also fabricates a long term relationship between Alvin Karpis and John Dillinger, which didn’t happen.
-Dillinger also received plastic surgery shortly before his death, (which the film leaves out), which started the controversy rather it was actually Dillinger who was shot at the Biograph, or someone else.
And I’m not saying that all the historical interpretation is bad.
I liked that fact that the film suggest that the Mafia had a hand in Dillinger’s death.
I was surprised with the direction Mann took with the film. While he had a chance to make a truly epic story about the genesis of the FBI, the Kansas City Massacre, the first good, then disastrous relationship between Melvin Purvis and J. Edgar Hoover, and the stories of other Public Enemies, Mann chose to focus on just the exploits of John Dillinger alone.
I’m also surprised that one of the characters in this film never got his own movie.
The character Giovanni Ribisi plays in the film, Alvin Karpis, has one of the most epic stories ever told. Not only was he a bank robber/kidnapper with the Barker Gang, but he himself has come face to face with Chicago Outfit boss, Frank Nitti. He was also the last “Public Enemy” to be captured. He was arrested by Hoover himself in New Orleans on May 1, 1936. After that he was thrown in Alcatraz from 1936 to April 1962. After Alcatraz was closed in 1962, he was transferred to McNeil Island Penitentiary in Washington.State. Karpis was released on parole in 1969 and deported to Canada.; he moved to Spain and died on August 26, 1979.
Just as he was the last “Public Enemy” to be captured, he was also the last one to die. He out lived all of his former peers at the time, and he even lived to see the death of J. Edgar Hoover.
Even though not 100% percent accurate, I don’t let that get in the way of me liking Public Enemies.
RATING: