Short Takes: Public Enemies (2009)

Dir. Michael Mann
Grade: A-

Michael Mann’s “Public Enemies” is a terrific accomplishment. The film tells the story of notorious gangster John Dillinger, focusing on his last few months. But this is not a straightforward biography and, at its most effective, works as a throwback to the 1930s crime pictures, together with the determined G-men, tragic moll and doomed protagonist. While the film does have its flaws, it makes for intelligent entertainment and a treat for inquisitive moviegoers.

More after the jump.

The film stars Johnny Depp as Dillinger. Depp is the premier actor in cinema right now and it shows. Depp’s Dillinger is controlled but charming, intense but accessible, you believe his every word. While Depp carries the film, he does have a lot of help.

Christian Bale plays G-Man Melvin Purvis with a haunted aura that becomes that much clearer during the final credits. There’s an exchange between Dillinger and Purvis relatively early in the film. Dillinger advices Purvis to look for a new line of work. Purvis walks away, his face the most vulnerable we will ever see it. Dillinger understood something about Purvis which he didn’t understand himself. It is a great moment.

Billy Crudup almost steals the show with his brief but highly effective turn as the young J. Edgar Hoover. Crudup not only looks the part, but he sounds like he stepped out of a 1930s Hollywood soundstage. Marion Cotillard, in her first film since making history with her lead actress Oscar win for “La Vie En Rose” plays Billie Frechette, Dillinger’s love interest. As the film will have us believe, these two were soulmates that complimented one another. Cotillard’s Frechette is loving and vulnerable, but never submissive. In true Hollywood fashion, the sole female character is almost short changed by the script, but Cotillard imbues Frechette with layers of emotional conflict and longing. In a particularly difficult sequence, Cotillard, head bowed down, shaking in utter desperation, reminds us why she is truly one of the best actors working today.

Mann is a visual artist and it is obvious that he reveres classical Hollywood. He took a daring chance by shooting the film digitally, and it was absolutely the right choice. It is almost unnoticeable for the most part, but it allows for fluidity that traditional celluloid may not have provided. The sound of machine guns has never been more terrifying, and the tension he manages to build up in several sequences is the stuff of Hitchcock. The music, however, is another story. While the script makes good use of “Bye, Bye Blackbird” and some Billie Holiday classics, the score by Elliot Goldenthal almost drowns the film with its bombastic shtick. Intimate moments between Dillinger and Frechette are practically ruined by the unnecessary crescendos Goldenthal seems to be so fond of. More is less, Mr. Goldenthal, more is less.

I don’t remember seeing many films where a lot of the monumental sequences take place in movie theaters, but it happens quite often in “Public Enemies.” There is a sequence in a particular where Dillinger sits with his gang in a movie theater. A newsreel flashes Dillinger’s image on the screen; he is Public Enemy No. 1. The narrator asks the audience to look to their right, then their left, because Dillinger may just be sitting next to them. Dillinger sits there, not fearful but almost tickled by the spectacle. Mann holds his camera on Depp’s face and the result is movie magic. It is an indelible image from a memorable film.