Johnny Depp is dapper Depression-era desperado John Dillinger in the new bullet-riddled re-telling of the story of America’s first “public enemy No. 1” and the FBI’s obsession with bringing him in, dead or alive.
Depp, who’s demonstrated his eagerness to slide into some fairly eccentric roles in movies like “Edward Scissorhands,” “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” and “Pirates of the Caribbean,” plays it straight for a change as the stylish 1930s bank robber, who loved the ladies, living on the edge and emptying the vaults of financial institutions across the Midwest.
But Christian Bale plays it even straighter as federal agent Melvin Purvis, the all-business, nose-to-the-grindstone sharpshooter handpicked by J. Edgar Hoover to put an end to Dillinger’s crime spree.
French actress Marion Cotillard is Dillinger’s girlfriend, Billie Frenchette, a barely-getting-by coat-check girl who falls for the dashing gangster and his promises of taking her away to a better life. The 1920s hit “Bye, Bye Blackbird” becomes the theme song to their love story.
Director Michael Mann gets all the details just right, from the thunderous rat-a-tat-tat of machine guns to the clattery din of the elevated trains outside Billie’s Chicago apartment. He spends a lot of time on the little things that let you know where, and when, you are — the lighted face of a bedside AM radio, the trim on a getaway car, the dial on old rotary pay phone. He completely immerses you in Dillinger’s world.
Mann also adheres to the historical facts of Dillinger’s well-documented tapestry of brazen daylight heists, gritty shootouts and improbable jailbreaks, and addresses how Dillinger became a folk hero revered by much of the working-class public for sticking it to the banks, the institutional villains of the day.
Too bad the movie’s fine craftwork is applied on the surface of such a hollow shell. Both Dillinger and Purvis are frustratingly one-dimensional; we’re never shown even a glimpse into how — or why — either of these “public enemies” came to be.
There’s a great story there, but you won’t find it here. For a movie about such a bedeviling character and the wild-ride life he led, “Public Enemies” has surprisingly little drive, dramatic tension or emotional heft.
Technically, the movie also hits a few potholes, especially in a chaotic nighttime ambush in which it’s impossible to keep track of who’s shooting whom, and in several scenes with dialogue that’s inaudibly muddy.
“Public Enemies” won’t win any awards. But it’s a decent grown-up summer popcorn movie, especially for females who’d like to spend two hours with Johnny Depp as a bad boy from a bygone cops ’n’ robbers era, one that certainly wasn’t anything near as romantic as Hollywood has always made it seem.
Features
Related Photos
-
Johnny Depp is John Dillinger in "Public Enemies." Peter Mountain
Film Review: Depp plays it straight in ‘Public Enemies’
- Features
-
-
Veggie Heaven
“Vegetables can be beautiful,” says Suzi Fields, and a case in point is her artfully landscaped curbside garden at 1013 Field Street (names Suzi Fields and Field Street are coincidental), which is Spring Lake Garden Club Yard of the Month.
-
HEB customers the big winners in Souper Bowl project
HEB customers throughout Kyle, Buda and San Marcos unanimously win MVP for this year's Souper Bowl of Caring, says local food bank community relations coordinator Jane Moore.
-
A Culinary Adventure
If the quickest way to a man’s heart is through his stomach, then true, long-lasting love exists through a pair of adventurous eaters.
-
Plenty of love going into TVM fundraiser
More than 200 volunteers, 30 flats of strawberries, 470 pounds of chocolate and immeasurable amounts of love go into True Vineyards Ministries annual valentine's chocolate-covered strawberry sale.
-
Food for Thought
Several Hays County youth participated in the District 10 4-H Food Challenge held recently at Texas State University.
-
Discover new, great reads with BookLetters website
“I was watching The Today Show and they reviewed Elizabeth the Queen by Sally Bedell Smith."
-
The Heat is On
It should come as no surprise that the next few months will be drier and warmer than normal.
-
Celebrating a Legend
Doug Lawrence was an up-and-coming tenor sax player, having played with Benny Goodman, Dizzy Gillespie and more, when he crossed paths with jazz pioneer — and San Marcos native — Eddie Durham in 1982.
-
‘Happy Birthday’ perfect antidote for winter blues
As the perfect antidote to winter blues, the Wimberley Players will open a rollicking farce, “Happy Birthday” by Marc Camoletti and adapted by Beverley Cross, today at the Wimberley Playhouse.
-
Counting down the many uses of corn
Nothing is more American than corn.
- More Features Headlines
-
Trial Opens for Ala. Man in Bride's Diving Death
Baltimore's 'Crime Stopper' Is a Basketball Star
Raw Video: Hearse Arrives at N.J. Funeral Home
Authorities: Houston Found Underwater in Tub
Arm Wrestler Not Guilty Plea in Wife's Death
Raw Video: Houston Body Flown From L.A. to N.J.
First Person: Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show
Obama's New Budget: The Winners and Losers
Gregoire: Marriage Equality Is Right for Wash.
Bacteria Keep Swimmers Off Some Fla. Beaches
Police: Houston Found Under Water, Unconscious
Sandusky Can See Grandkids, Have Local Jury
Obama Unveils $3.8 Trillion Budget
Raw Video: Israeli Embassy Car Attacked
Coroner: Don't Know Houston's Cause of Death Yet
Valentine Greetings Sent Worldwide From Loveland
Greek Austerity Measures Spark Riots
Raw Video: Obama Budget Goes to Capitol Hill
Arab League Wants U.N. Help in Syria
Nordic Festival Puts North Korea in Spotlight
