A gritty, old-fashioned
corker that has muscled its way into Parks Plaza Buellton, this crime chronicle
follows the crooked path of real-life bank robber John Dillinger (and Baby Face
Nelson, among the motley crew), who blazed a path through Chicago during the
Depression.
In 1995, director Michael
Mann also brought the “Heat,” another tour de force of drama and action pitting
thief Robert De Niro against detective Al Pacino.
The premise this time is
similar, a story tried and literally true, starring a believable Johnny Depp as
the ringleader and Christian Bale as his law-enforcing nemesis. (Depp’s bandit,
when asked where he’s going in life: “Anywhere I want.”)
Sturdy support emerges in
the form of love interest Marion Cotillard and Billy Crudup as J. Edgar Hoover,
though it’s Stephen Lang as a wise, unflappable gumshoe who understatedly
steals the show.
Other familiar faces, all of
whom professionally speak their piece and then are
never seen again, include Giovanni Ribisi, Lily Taylor, Stephen Dorff and
Leelee Sobieski.
Behind the lens, Mann and
trusty cinematographer Dante Spinotti pull off the use of high-definition
despite the picture’s 1930s throwback setting.
The filmmaker had ample
practice, with “Heat,” in refining his considerable shootout-sequence skills,
and here Mann lifts them to another level: A fleeting moment in an apartment
hallway places the camera in such an ingenious spot that you don’t see the
fateful gunshot coming.
More significantly, the
storytelling strikes a balance. The filmmaker manages to juggle countless
characters while sifting through mounds of historical context.
Despite clocking in at 135
minutes, “Public Enemies” rarely stalls or stumbles. On opening night in
Buellton, the dozens of audience members remained rapt throughout, as focused
as the participants on screen.
View the trailer online at
www.publicenemies.net.