Public Enemies

melodrama, romance, and 140 minutes. wtf, this is a gangster film??

public enemies is the latest michael mann gangster drama. this one is based on john dillinger (played by johnny depp) the depression era bank robber and his evasion of the fbi, led by melvin purvis (christian bale). the film is 140 minutes. that's way too long for how little actually happens in this film. there is plenty of manufactured drama and romance, which seems completely out of place in this movie. for some reason some deaths are worth long drawn out scenes that show the drama and angst in the person's eyes... while some get killed and we just move on. that's what i mean by manufactured. the filmmakers want us to care about some deaths, and not others, but it's seemingly for no reason. who cares... there is plenty of good shootout scenes, even if it's nothing we haven't seen before. this is quite similar to michael mann's heat that it's funny. heat is much better by the way. the scene that made me lol was when depp's girlfriend billie (marion cortillard) is being beaten by interrogators, until christian bale shows up to beat up her abuser and subsequently carry her to the ladies room. so fucking hollywood! god i laughed at the absurdity. not to mention the final sequence of the film, which i won't give away, but it is quite cliche. there are plenty of boring pointless moments in public enemies, and the only thing that is really worth a damn is the shootouts and bank heists. i feel like such a typical man for saying that, but this just isn't a good movie.
as with a lot of period movies made lately, public enemies shows almost no signs that it takes place in the past. the film techniques don't fit the date of the film, and other than the costumes and cars (which at all times appear to have just been washed) it just doesn't feel like the great depression era at all.