Public Enemies review

Guns, girls, and gangsters come together in Michael Mann's latest film Public Enemies, a film that uses digital photography unfortunately less well than Collateral, the last film Mann implemented this technique on.

Now, I'm not here to give a plot synopsis- you can get that pretty much anywhere on the net. I am here to give my thoughts and feelings on it. As such, it should suffice for me to tell you that the film chronicles the life of John Dillinger and explores how the media and America reacted. sadly, it doesn't have the emotional punch I was hoping for, and it really seems the film needed it.

The acting is quite good and the story itself is mostly well-done, but it's a by-the-numbers gangster movie with some really ugly cinematography. That said, the sound in this film is phenominal. if only the visual aspect matched up with the audio.

The film is too long as well. It's mostly entertaining, but near the halfway mark it begins to get repetitive and tedious. it all leads up to an ending that not only is predictable by any film standards, let alone if you know your history. A film should still be able to give a good journey no matter if it's a historical film.

Now I'm not going to say this film isn't worthy. It's a competent film narratively speaking, and it doesn't totally overdo the shaky-cam, but i have to admit I was straining my eyes to make sure that david Wenham was indeed in the film. If the camera is too spastic for me to be able to tell who one of its stars is, then there is something wrong.

Marion Cotillard, however, really steals the show here. She's such a beautiful actress and gives probably the best performance of the film. She continues to show her range and any scene with her really picks up the film. I tyhink Depp, Crudup, Bale, and the rest of the cast range from serviceable to damn god,m but none hold a candle to Cotillard. I think that this film, when it comes down to it, is an average movie with some good performances, but the flaws are evident and keep me from giving it a high recommendation.

A matinee or possibly rental would be best, if you ask me.