Public Enemies

I absolutely cannot believe how one of the most awaited movies of the year, critically as well as commercially, can turn out to be such a bovine epic of nothingness. I did watch it a second time, with the full intention of “liking” the film. Prepped with comfy loafers, linen shorts and a cardigan. Red Bull just incase I veer towards dozing off like the first attempt. C’mon its a Depp movie. Michael Mann headlines the poster.

But all fails just as miserably the second time around. Sorry Michael Mann, but your definition of “real and now” certainly did nothing real or immediate. I refer to his digital camerawork, rather than the cinematic film-noir we’ve come to expect off something from the 40’s. The night shots looked rather like a B-roll behind the scenes footage from a handycam. The color just never popped. The blacks were gray, the colors washed. I don’t know if this is where cinema is collectively heading. Ramble ramble ramble….

Okay, maybe I’m examining this the wrong way. That Red Bull still had me praying everybody lay dead as soon as possible. Not because I couldn’t sympathise with any of the characters (which I couldn’t!) but so I could make my way back to the car. The screenplay was drab; almost like adapting a book but not really changing anything. Does not work on screen. The performances were so mediocre I wondered how Mann manages to sign big billing names like Depp and Bale and get it wrong. New characters were popping in towards the last ten minutes of the film…as it turns out they were in the movie to begin with. But hey, with forgettably generic 50’s faces, the casting get no vote of mine.

To be fair, the soundtrack is a stellar piece of work. Otis Taylor really nails it. The trailer plays to his ‘Ten Thousand Slaves’ and manages to get the adrenalin rushing every time. Cut to the film, and you wonder who let a DJ (yes a DJ) loose on the edit. The score overpowers and in most cases does not feature.

Marion Cotillard is a phenomenal actress (take the original Taxi in French, or Ridley Scott’s A Good Year) but manages to confuse Johnny Depp — as in whether she had an autistic drawl to her speech. As it turns out its her on an identity crisis between being French and trying American.

I will be back in a follow up feature to this post shortly. My thoughts are still wheeling in.

This entry was written by Danish Farhan, posted on at 7:04 pm, filed under Filmed and tagged critique, johnny depp, michael mann, movie review, public enemies. Bookmark the permalink. Follow any comments here with the RSS feed for this post.