Some Spoilers!
This is not a film for everybody. It should be, simply based on its excellence. But, as many of us know, smart-films and television is dead and most people flock to below-basic entertainment. Public Enemies should be seen as a classic, an all-star cast demonstrating impressive acting with a superior script. Public Enemies is about John Dillinger (Johnny Depp), a mid-depression era bank robber and murderer. The film begins during one of his 3-known planned jail escapes (not his, his buddies). Right at the beginning, you see his melancholy as he stares into his dying friend, Walter Dietrick's (James Russo) eyes. Dillinger is all about living the good life with his friends, Homer Van Meter (Stephen Dorff), most loyal, John 'Red' Hamilton (Jason Clarke) and Harry 'Pete' Pierpont (David Wenham). During his 'high' times, he meets a coatcheck girl Billie Frechette (Marion Cottilard), very charmingly played, and promises to take care of her because she's "his girl now". Ironically, it is his loyalty that gives him enough problems to make him continuously 'public enemy' number 1 to FBI Agent Mervin Pelvis (Christian Bale), greatly subdued character, who is recruited by a very frustrated John Edgar Hoover (Billy Crudup).
Public Enemies is not only about John Dillinger, but about him and his friends. Moreover, it is about the different ways that people attempt to escape the mundaneness of 'normal' life by being grandeur than 'normal' people. There is a whole lot of gun fighting from the beginning to the end, and if you have to be able to handle watching that kind of video game-like violence. By the end, most of his friends are 'deceased' as he even sees for himself on the FBI wall (funny scene btw). And his fate parallels his friends, although clearly showing the FBIs' cowardice behaviour as they shoot him from behind and unarmed, without ever bothering to read his rights (probably in fear that he would escape again).
While doing research on the film, I read that Dillinger was also a murderer, which is not portrayed in the film at all. This proves to be a bit misleading as you completely sympathize with the character, bad guy or not, and forget that he has killed others. Regardless, I would say this is one of Depp's greatest acting achievements as he sits into the character with a familiarity that demonstrates his substantial skills.
Go here to hear the soundtrack online, which is excellent by the way because it captures the ambience of the time.
Trailer
1 comments:
Great post as always.
I was thinking of going, now you got me convinced.
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