This movie had three things working in its favor from word one for me: a) I have an unabashed bias and interest in anything during the depression era, from music to style to atmosphere; b) a really cool trailer that paints the movie as a kinetic heist movie-turned cops-on-our-heels thriller; and c) both Johnny Depp and Christian Bale leading a movie as two sides of a coin of good and evil. That's a lot of positives nesting in my brain walking into a theatre and, as with King Kong by Peter Jackson, I was fully aware it may slightly slant my opinion of the movie.
So how does Public Enemies fair? Middling at best, I would have to somewhat sadly say. This film absolutely does not know what it wants to be, and chiefly because of this it misses almost every impactful beat it may have achieved. From the promotion of the film we are lead to believe that perhaps this is a character piece on John Dillinger (Depp) and the struggles and mental battles he wrestles with as the age of the FBI dawns and organized crime as it stood began to crumble. I recalled the effectiveness of the Brad Pitt movie The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford more than a few times while watching this film, and it's clear by merits of character study alone that the former outdoes the latter in both acting and clarity of purpose. It would be hard to pin this on Depp alone, though it is tempting. In order for the audience to be drawn in, the chief character be it villain or hero must have a magnetic quality that makes the viewer anticipate screen time with the character. Depp's John Dillinger does not have that at all. Throughout the entire film he plays one beat, and it's hard to tell what the character is supposed to be thinking throughout it all. Besides one scene where he visibly breaks down crying, there are no cues as to his general mindset. As I said, I don't know if Depp can be blamed for this completely. It almost seems to me that he didn't really have all that much to work with in the first place, and the dialogue and emotions he has are based on a very shaky foundation to begin with.
This foundation comes in the form of the first act of the movie which moves so fast that it undermines itself by carrying no weight. The movie touts the early scenes as the "Golden Age" of crime, yet we are treated to essentially one bank robbery that makes it seem that Dillinger and company are untouchable. After that it's pretty much into the just out of harm's way chase of being one step ahead of the authorities. Mixed in with these rapidly contracting options, the film sees fit to shoehorn in a love story for Dillinger. Whether it's meant to be love at first sight, or a commentary on his impulsive attitude the film never clarifies. Instead, a chance meeting, a nice dinner, and some bold words from Depp (over the course of maybe 35 minutes of film) are all we have to go on to assume this man would do anything for this girl. It's a bit much to swallow and it asks a lot of the audience.
As it may or may not be clear, the movie spreads itself thin trying to be a few things. At first, it seems that we're going to get to see the twilight days of John Dillinger's rampage of fun-filled crime as the real world catches up. As I said, the character focused approach is neglected and undernourished. Secondly, the movie seems it may be a historical piece about the end of crime in the Great Depression and how J. Edgar Hoover (an entertaining Billy Cruddup) establishes the FBI as a force to be reckoned with. Again, the movie is too concerned with jumping between moments like this and on Dillinger, and then on the various other characters laced throughout. It may be assumed that perhaps this movie means to make more of the tragic love story. Again, this is only a half realized notion as the movie focuses so little on this facet that whenever the director feels the whim to revisit it, the audience is disinclined to care very deeply. The problem with this film is that it does not know what to be, and to be honest because of this it is hard to decide what it would have worked better as. Personally, I lean towards a character study much like the aforementioned Assassination of Jesse James..., but then in comparison it would feel a lackluster competitor.
To be clear, the movie is entertaining. The final half of the film manages to evoke a sense of fascination at a man who simply will not give up in the face of insurmountable opposition. Of course, this makes the inevitable fate of the character that much more predictable, but you may find yourself unaffected by this and more interested in how exactly it all plays out. The supporting cast does a decent job with what can best be called bit parts. Baby Face Nelson in particular sticks in your mind, but it's hard to accept the character as the actor plays it more as parody of what a gangster was instead of getting to the reality of the person. It comes off very cartoonish.
Finally, it would be a mistake to neglect to mention Christian Bale. In one of my personal favorite performances from the rising actor in recent years, Bale delivers a kind of performance I felt he hasn't in quite some time. It's at once refreshing and, like Dillinger, never given enough time to develop past the initial traits we are fed in the early moments. Because of this very fact, after the credits begin to roll and we are informed that the real life counterpart for Bale's character killed himself a year after the events of the movie, the reaction is more of confusion than sadness. Bale's character is so marginalized that the fact he may have commit suicide comes as a complete shock because the characterization in the movie never once suggests in a meaningful way that he's being greatly affected by his work. It's a shame because one feels that the character may have been much more intriguing in a more focused film.
In the end, see Public Enemies if you're looking for a mildly entertaining diversion from the huge summer blockbusters currently dominating the theatres. Don't expect anything special, and don't expect to be drawn into the drama in the way you might hope for walking into the cinema.
No comments:
Post a Comment