Public Enemies (Special Edition)

 

 

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Dillinger, the almost gentlemanly daredevil bank robber of the depression, is easily portrayed by Johnny Depp in director Michael Mann's Public Enemies. I especially appreciate the blu-ray's interactive historical timeline which provides a constant affirmation of the film's authenticity. Additional bonus material includes; a director's commentary, pic-in-pic, several featurettes etc. (as well as Dbox & BD live). In terms of picture quality, I'm not sure how much better the blu-ray rates compared to a regular dvd. There are shots of expected great clarity, but there's also a lot of grain (in the lower-lit scenes), and though I'm sure it was the director's intent given the film's increasingly worn (natural) look, I would have appreciated more clarity. My biggest complaint however (for my system), is the audio which is heavily compressed - extremely loud gunfire vs. super-soft dialogue. (I've tried several different audio settings, but this disc requires a home theatre system.) Too bad - constantly working the volume control is my only drawback to watching an otherwise engaging film.

When this movie came on TV tonight, I was pleasantly surprised. I had heard and read the tragic story of John Dillinger all my life and since I missed Public Enemies (Single-Disc Edition) when it came out in 1999, I stayed riveted to the TV.

With a nation-wide man-hunt on for Public Enemy No. One, notorious bank robber John Dillinger, this drama takes the viewer along for the bloody, horrific ride. Throughout the tense action of brutal bank robberies, street warfare with Tommy-guns blazing in all directions, harrowing prison breakouts and life-and-death chases through eerie woods, I felt like I was "inside" the action.

There isn't much humor in this movie, but what little there is comes from Dillinger himself who is endearingly cocky and overly confident. When he first meets and falls for beautiful coat-check girl Billie Frechette and she asks what he does, he says, "I'm John Dillinger and I rob banks." In that context, I couldn't help but laugh.

Another show of wit was when he sang "I'm headed for the last roundup," which struck me as humorous in an ironic way... Dark humor...or was it prophetic?

Johnny Depp is brilliant in this role; he not only plays the part of Dillinger, he is the man! He's a smart, methodical man who outwits the FBI at every turn...except the last one, of course. His, posture, facial expressions and entire performance are "dead on" to how I think Dillinger would be. Although I abhor his crimes, I feel some sympathy for the hunted, haunted man.

I found it odd that many citizens of that Depression era actually made a "hero" of him, which made for some rather "touching" scenes. One thing can be said for Dillinger, he was loyal to his gang and to his "love," Billie Frechette, sympathetically portrayed by actress Marion Cotillard. Christian Bale was also excellent with his tight-lipped portrayal of FBI Special Agent Melvin Purvis, the man credited with bringing Dillinger down. (The FBI also targeted Pretty Boy Floyd and Baby Face Nelson.)

I admired the agent who kept Dillinger's last, whispered words a secret from the other agents and delivered them to Billie personally. Whether this really happened or was "movie drama" I don't know, but I cried when Billie cried. I bet you will "tear up" when you hear what Dillinger said too. A sad ending, to be sure, but it ended the only way it could--with the message that must be delivered: Crime does not pay!

I agree with Kathleen C. Fennessy from Amazon's product description who says, "...it's still the best mainstream gangster epic in ages and ranks among Mann's finest works." Kudos to Director Michael Mann for his incredible eye for detail and superb casting. A solid five stars for this realistic, exciting movie.

Endnote: The movie is set in the golden era of bank robbers, a time when law enforcement struggled through its dark ages. Police departments were out-manned and outgunned, and J. Edgar Hoover's FBI agents were outsmarted. By the time Dillinger was killed outside a Chicago movie theater on July 22, 1934, his gang of yeggs--the era's name for bank robbers--had stolen tens of thousands of dollars from uninsured banks and shot about a dozen people, including police officers. The movie plays up Dillinger's life in Chicago, his robberies and his charisma, but it also glosses over several key robberies in my home state of Ohio. When I was a kid in Ohio, it was rumored that Dillinger hid-out in my hometown of Hamilton between robberies. A claim to fame? I think not!

Reviewed by Betty Dravis, July 10, 2010
Author of "Dream Reachers" (with Chase Von) and other books

the visuals for this blu ray are amazing, one of the best. However this movie is super boring. Big waste of depp and bale

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2.0 out of 5 stars zzz...
anybody who has seen the 70's movie dillinger will think this one a waste of time.

Published on Jan 21 2010 by Samson Labelle

4.0 out of 5 stars Quality moviemaking
The Movie Itself:
Michael Mann has a reputation of paying great attention to detail and camera angles, after all it was he who brought us the greatest gunfight sequence in... Read more

Published on Jan 7 2010 by Toast

4.0 out of 5 stars Another great performance by Johnny Depp
This movie surprised me. I had heard it was slow and kind of boring. I found the pacing, in fact, built up tension. Read more

Published on Dec 26 2009 by Francesca

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