'Public Enemies' review

'Public Enemies' is a tour de force of charisma, intelligence and violence. A film that exuberates sexiness at all times with Depp's turn as the protagonist/ antagonist in John Dillinger being electrifying to watch despite his somewhat understated and subtle performance. Mann has crafted a true crime epic here, presenting Dillinger's rise to prominence and fall, or in actuality, the minor setbacks he experiences along the way in achieving and receiving just what he wants.

Depp is the driving force behind the almost three hour film, a running time that at no point seemed lengthy to me as i remained constantly gripped by the back and forth battle between Dillinger's gang and Purvis's specially tailored FBI squad. I am not ashamed to say, as a confidently heterosexual man, that Depp's Dillinger was inherently sexy and charismatic, constantly dressed to a tee and reeling off numerous lines that could immediately be immortalised as catchphrases, my favourite of which being;

'I like baseball, the movies, fast cars, nice clothes...and you. What more do you need to know?'

(Paraphrased slightly)

Of course, Dillinger's, almost, mirror image in Purvis is portrayed with just as strong a performance by the one and only Christian 'Get off the fucking set' Bale, as he is clearly a man tortured by the necessary violence and death that needs to be exacted upon the criminal underworld in order to catch their public enemy number one. The rest of the cast is just as strong, the other two stand out performances coming from Stephen Graham as the, seemingly, insane 'Baby face' Nelson, and Marion Cotillard as Dillinger's love interest Billie, the moment in which her performance was solidified for me as being a great one, being her reaction to her 'interrogation' at the hands of the FBI, her uncontrollable shaking causing me to want Johnny to bust down the doors of the Police precinct and exact revenge upon the 'fat one'.

Mann immerses us, as an audience, into this world immediately using low angle, frenetic camera angles to follow Dillinger's crew upon their prison break and introducing us to John as a man already fully entwined with the criminal world and, following the death of one of his friends in the get away, foreshadowing the death to come in Dillinger's subsequent rise to fame. The more static uses of the camera come when portraying President Edgar Hoover, or the inner workings of the FBI, suggesting a sense of stability in comparison to the hectic, 'live for the moment', lives of Dillinger and his gang. The lack of any discernible soundtrack during the extensive action sequences lends a sense of realism and a greater sense of historical accuracy to the gun battles, allowing us as an audience to experience the devastating noise and deathly silences of such encounters between the law and the criminals.

I thought this film was fantastic, in that i was completely immersed from the get go and wasn't released, Mann maintaining a tight grip on my eyes and also my heart, the ending proving to be quite an emotionally devastating one. Perhaps it was just in comparison to the dire film i saw yesterday but i truly believe this film could be worthy of five stars. But, five stars indicates no improvements could be made and I'm not entirely sure i am confident enough to say that, so, rather controversially, i will not only be awarding 'Public Enemies' four out of five stars, i will also be decreasing 'Year One's rating to one out of five stars. (Apologies again to childhood hero Mr. Ramis...but honestly? I'm surprised i didn't see the ironic humour in awarding the film one star yesterday)