Don't Go Public

This afternoon, I went to see the new movie Public Enemies, the biopic about Depression-era bank robber John Dillinger. I was prepared for something a little more sedated than the previews (which tried to depict an action-packed summer thrill ride) led the viewers to expect.

I was not prepared for a veiled remake of director Michael Mann's own movie, Heat. It's the very same plot of a consummate criminal pitted against a consummate criminal-catcher, and plays many of the same beats. Thankfully, Public Enemies boasts neither the unnecessarily long running time nor unnecessarily large cast of the earlier film. But that doesn't mean the movie is that much better.

If it weren't for the big budget and actors like Johnny Depp and Christian Bale, you'd never know this was a Hollywood movie; it is almost completely devoid of drama, and thus packs no more emotional punch than if the material had been treated in true documentary fashion by The History Channel or some such. The film is just a rather lackluster march from event to event in the final stretch of the criminal's life.

You might think that Depp and Bale, both fine actors, might elevate the material from its rather drab arrangement on the page. But sadly, neither is given much to really do. Dillnger seems like he should be a larger than life character, but just doesn't stack up to the wonderful roles Johnny Depp has inhabited. For his part, Christian Bale has glowered threateningly to greater effect in other films. Actually, the acting that really deserves praise is that of Marion Cotillard. What little emotion there is in the film comes thanks to her.

But the pace still plods, the audience is kept at arm's length, and no lasting commentary of any kind is made. It's a marginal improvement over Heat, which I also didn't like, but not enough of one to recommend the film. I rate it a C-.