Public Enemies (Mann, 2009)

[shariqq]

Speaking of flamboyant, I was reflecting on Christian Bale's body of work. I don't think he would get the recognition he deserves in Hollywood and I will tell you why. In 3:10 to Yuma, The Dark Knight, and now in Public Enemies, all these three films he plays the lesser glamorous person to Russell Craw, Heath Ledger, and Johnny Depp in respective. He is always the straight faced man who lacks the smallest shred of irony. Therefore, the limelight evades him and lands on the other man.

Ayaa, if you haven't yet, try catching Harsh Times.

[ayaa1977]

Ayaa, if you haven't yet, try catching Harsh Times.

Actually I have not, but I didn't hear much praise for this film, quite the opposite. I have seen the poster in the video store but I wasn't that inclinedbefore. I take it that you like the film Shariqq?

Speaking of the poster, I don't know why but I keep mistaken Bale for James Caviezel in the poster of this film.

[madali]

"Harsh Time" is not for everyone, but I thought it was excellent, and Bale was brilliant in it.

[shariqq]

I take it that you like the film Shariqq?

Yes, Harsh Times is a movie I have liked. I could have sworn I wrote my views on the movie, but I seem to have not. But madali has an excellent review here. Kaytee, on the other hand, hated it.

But more importantly, this movie's suggestion came from me in response to your post of Bale being hidden in the shadows of larger showy characters. The Prestige is another movie where he shares screen-time with the wonderful and highly-watchable Hugh Jackman, but doesn't ger overshadowed.

My take on his performances: he concentrated on his characters and how they exist in the reality of the movie, rather than excelling over peers and proving himself more flamboyant.

[ayaa1977]

[But more importantly, this movie's suggestion came from me in response to your post of Bale being hidden in the shadows of larger showy characters. The Prestige is another movie where he shares screen-time with the wonderful and highly-watchable Hugh Jackman, but doesn't ger overshadowed.

My take on his performances: he concentrated on his characters and how they exist in the reality of the movie, rather than excelling over peers and proving himself more flamboyant.

How didI forget about The Prestige?! It is one of my favorite movies, and you are right Bale stood his ground, and I even think he outshone Jackman in this one, may be because Jackman wasn't his flamboyant self in this one.

I look at Christian Bale and I see the most brilliant actor of his generation. However his always understated performance would prevent him from getting the status he deserves.

Even in a film like "The Mechanist" where he endured such a severe physical transformation, he did it for the sake of the role. From scene to scene he played it straight without having any Oscar-bait moments. That is why I love and respect the guy so much.   

[ozzylogic]

Even in a film like "The Mechanist" where he endured such a severe physical transformation, he did it for the sake of the role.

The Machinist!

[ayaa1977]

Yes Ozzy I meant The Machinist. Thanx for the correction.

[ak]

Ayaa, you have a very insightful comment about Bale playing straight-arrow characters without a shred of irony; and perhaps this is why those character evade close inspection by the viewer. My friend made a similar comment about Bale on his performance in Public Enemies. If I remember correctly, he said something to the effect of "...Bale's your typical 'yes, sir, I'll get right on it' type."

Find out for yourself when the film unspools in theaters later in the year.

[ayaa1977]

Ayaa, you have a very insightful comment about Bale playing straight-arrow characters without a shred of irony; and perhaps this is why those character evade close inspection by the viewer. My friend made a similar comment about Bale on his performance in Public Enemies. If I remember correctly, he said something to the effect of "...Bale's your typical 'yes, sir, I'll get right on it' type."

Find out for yourself when the film unspools in theaters later in the year.

Good to know that I am not alone on this paricular thought. Surely I would try to catch the film if it came out in one of my trips. You don't know how easy you guys have it when it comes to watch movies, while we buy the most expensive movie tickets, lol.

[sandeep]

I was thinking it was only me, but when I saw the trailer, it kind of let the movie down... I guess I am not alone...

[shariqq]

The trailer is a mess, in its content.

[ayaa1977]

Critics are lukewarm on this film, and shooting it with a digital camera seems to bug lots of people. Still it is an interesting project to watch and I wouldn't miss it for anything.

[ozzylogic]

I'm getting tired of Johnny Depp and his roles...they're all the same, some smart ass one step above the law with his lame smirk. If I'm going to watch it, it'll be due to Christian Bale.

[fizz]

The narrative detachment of director Michael Mann’s clinical approach is an impediment to any viewer’s complete enjoyment of Public Enemies. The film is set in the 30’s but all the blues music in its soundtrack can’t prevent it from looking strangely contemporary. Perhaps it’s the choice of digital filmmaking, championed by Mann for years now, which makes it look like a hybrid of reality television and Cinema Vérité, not the crime caper that audiences expect. Yet, overlooking this technical aspect, Enemies is a minor return to form for Mann after the misfire that was Miami Vice, who engages us with a familiar cat and mouse game, packed with an enormous amount of gunplay.

The plot, set in the early 30’s, during America’s depression era, tells us nothing about famed criminal and bank robber John Dilinger (Johnny Depp, playing it cool as always). His past is kept to a single line about his childhood. The film is all about his exploits – ranging from multiple bank robberies in Chicago to prison getaways (twice). As the FBI’s most wanted man, he is feverishly pursued by Christian Bale’s Agent Melvin Purvis, but remains elusive thanks to his quick thinking and dexterity, despite the use of then modern technology to catch him. Over the course of its overlong running time, a large number of characters are introduced; names and faces frustratingly appear and disappear with little background. This is an oft repeated Mann technique, no doubt to instill depth of research in the picture that repeatedly fails the director (as it did in his only real biopic – Ali).

Grainy, stodgy and distracting, Michael Mann’s films seem to be getting more and more realistic looking, but that isn’t a compliment for Public Enemies. Films are adept at capturing a time and a place, not the reality of it (that is better served through documentaries) and despite Dante Spinotti’s fascinating cinematography (the cloudy sky in the opening scene is elegant and majestic), no one will be fooled into believing this is the past. Mann it seems has also not improved in the drama department – the courtship of Billie Frechette (Marion Cotillard) by Dilinger has little life and is at times, wooden. The familiar Mann themes are all here though – the dichotomy of criminals and their perpetrators, the recklessness of ambition, just set in a different era. The one area where Mann continues to show impressive craftsmanship is in making his film highly cinematic.

The firepower and raw intensity of scene after scene after scene of robberies and skirmishes with the law have an impressive potency that is by now universally accepted as the director’s forte. Despite the sheer number of shootouts, including a very impressive nighttime gunfight at a lodge in the woods, the film does little to explore the legend of Dilinger. Taking its cue no doubt from Terrence Malick’s Badlands in its portrayal of criminals who achieve celebrity status (a key scene where Dilinger poses for questions and photographs with police is nearly identical to a similar scene with Martin Sheen’s Kit from Badland’s), the script never exposes the reasons for this mass fascination and therefore falls short of the achievement of the highly celebrated and effective Assassination of Jesse James from a few years ago. Nonetheless, despite this reviews focus on all these limitations, Public Enemies remains a quintessential Mann product and very watchable as a result. Though ultra serious and formalist, the film has a handful of scenes of great potency, including a witty segment in a cinema where the Dilinger gang see ‘Wanted’ pictures of themselves with a packed audience, and the fierce, brutal Bureau interrogation of Billie, a character that Cotillard gives both breath and life to – the very lest scene is poignant and potent, with the camera focusing on her face, as she internalizes her grief, before the credits roll. It’s just a pity that the film can’t quite give the same humanity to all its subjects.

Rating: 3.5/5

[ayaa1977]

Great reiew Fizz! I liked that you weren't hung up on the technical aspect of its cinematography, or the "wooden acting" of Christian Bale, which seems the biggest hindering point for everyone else. Yours was discussing bew aspects and it is more about the director himself. I like that! I give your review 4/5