Though the summer movie season is hitting the halfway mark, only a couple films slated for summer release remain marked on my schedule. I knocked off one tonight, PUBLIC ENEMIES, and while so much about it seemed promising, the end result was a tremendous disappointment.
PUBLIC ENEMIES (2009)
Let's pretend that somehow, by the grace of god almighty, you've just caught wind of a pristine, untouched gold mine in the middle of nowhere. You gather your equipment, your crew (if you so choose), and you head out to pillage this cave of unforeseen fortune and happiness. You get there, ready to behold a new life of affluence and opulence, only to find that inside this supposedly prosperous mine is actually a room full of freshly pinched turds. Big. Brown. Turds.
That's PUBLIC ENEMIES.
Director Michael Mann's take on 1930's bank robber John Dillinger is a wonky flick, one that suffers from an erratic narrative that floats for two hours on a flimsy story. Depsite the fact that PUBLIC ENEMIES seems to be fairly heavily derailed from actual historical events, ENEMIES tells its tale in three pieces: Christian Bale (playing Melvin Purvis) talks, Christian Bale sends men with guns to some place, Christian Bale and Johnny Depp (as Dillinger) shoot at each other. Rather, rinse, repeat for 140 minutes and you have a movie as dull as PUBLIC ENEMIES.
Though Mann has never been one for an overtly polished aesthetic, it's taken to an entirely new level in PUBLIC ENEMIES, choosing to forgo standard film in favor of (largely) handheld, digital video. Whilst Mann's intentions to give the film a more realistic and documentary feel are understandable, the end result is a cheap and amateur aesthetic that is nearly impossible to fall for. Ugly and meretricious, PUBLIC ENEMIES never sells its pseudo-documentary look, instead distracting from a story that's already razor-thin to begin with.
To make matters worse, the Ali/Frazier collision of acting superpowers is grievously disheartening. Those that aren't too fond of Christian Bale won't be particularly wooed by PUBLIC ENEMIES as Bale's protagonist, fed investigator Melvin Purvis, is a flavorless, empty potato sack of a character that expounds all previous complaints about Bale's traditionally callous screen presence. Depp suffices as Dillinger, though it's not enough to create anything particularly memorable. Dillinger's character arc is equally as unimpressive, despite some terribly lame tropes that try to move it forward. The real star here is Marion Cotillard... simply because she's hot.
Bland, visually uninteresting, and suffering from a shoddy story and uninspired acting, PUBLIC ENEMIES ends up being colossally disappointing as well as terribly frustrating. At least I can take solace knowing that I got to see Marion Cotillard with a blurred-out nipple. Is that weird? Where's that gold mine again?
In significantly better news, the theatrical trailer for the Peter Jackson produced DISTRICT 9 hit the interweb today. After UP, DISTRICT 9 was the only other summer film that I really had my eyes on. Check it out.
That's PUBLIC ENEMIES.
Director Michael Mann's take on 1930's bank robber John Dillinger is a wonky flick, one that suffers from an erratic narrative that floats for two hours on a flimsy story. Depsite the fact that PUBLIC ENEMIES seems to be fairly heavily derailed from actual historical events, ENEMIES tells its tale in three pieces: Christian Bale (playing Melvin Purvis) talks, Christian Bale sends men with guns to some place, Christian Bale and Johnny Depp (as Dillinger) shoot at each other. Rather, rinse, repeat for 140 minutes and you have a movie as dull as PUBLIC ENEMIES.
Though Mann has never been one for an overtly polished aesthetic, it's taken to an entirely new level in PUBLIC ENEMIES, choosing to forgo standard film in favor of (largely) handheld, digital video. Whilst Mann's intentions to give the film a more realistic and documentary feel are understandable, the end result is a cheap and amateur aesthetic that is nearly impossible to fall for. Ugly and meretricious, PUBLIC ENEMIES never sells its pseudo-documentary look, instead distracting from a story that's already razor-thin to begin with.
To make matters worse, the Ali/Frazier collision of acting superpowers is grievously disheartening. Those that aren't too fond of Christian Bale won't be particularly wooed by PUBLIC ENEMIES as Bale's protagonist, fed investigator Melvin Purvis, is a flavorless, empty potato sack of a character that expounds all previous complaints about Bale's traditionally callous screen presence. Depp suffices as Dillinger, though it's not enough to create anything particularly memorable. Dillinger's character arc is equally as unimpressive, despite some terribly lame tropes that try to move it forward. The real star here is Marion Cotillard... simply because she's hot.
Bland, visually uninteresting, and suffering from a shoddy story and uninspired acting, PUBLIC ENEMIES ends up being colossally disappointing as well as terribly frustrating. At least I can take solace knowing that I got to see Marion Cotillard with a blurred-out nipple. Is that weird? Where's that gold mine again?
In significantly better news, the theatrical trailer for the Peter Jackson produced DISTRICT 9 hit the interweb today. After UP, DISTRICT 9 was the only other summer film that I really had my eyes on. Check it out.
Dont agree with your wonky views on public enemies bc we are having to much fun today ... we aint thinkin about tomarrow..... were is the hangover it was good btw bruno gets a five star but revenge gets three? .... im disappointed my boy.... take a star from bruno and give it to mr. dillinger... or he could just take it.
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