PUBLIC ENEMIES (USA 2009) **
Directed by Michael Mann

PUBLIC ENEMIES pits together two top stars Johnny Depp as John Dillinger and Christian Bale as FBI agent Melvin Purvis on the opposite sides of the law.  Director Mann has proven his mettle with box-office successes of films like HEAT with Robert De Niro and Al Pacino.  But will PUBLIC ENEMIES re-coup its huge production costs?

Director Mann’s films are always great to look at.  His best films THE INSIDER and HEAT are full of drama and feeling.  PUBLIC ENEMIES has Depp, Bale and Oscar winner Marion Cotillard doing the best in the acting department.  Unfortunately, there is no hardly any emotion in the story.  Part has to do with the fact that there are only a few scenes with Depp and Bale together or Depp and Cotillard together. It does not help that Mann does not stress the reason of attraction of the two lovers – just that the power of their love.

Mann starts his films abruptly with Dillinger executing a prison break, just as he introduces the Purvis character with the pursuit and killing of Pretty Boy Floyed (Tatum Channing).  The film, based on the book of the same name by Bryan Burroughs and on a script by Mann and Ronan Bennett jumps all over the place lacking a clear direction.  Arthur Penn’s BONNIE & CLYDE with Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway, a film in the perios gangster genre in contrast, was pure straight-forward violent delight.

Other stars in the cast like Lili Taylor, Billy Curdrup and Matt Craven are largely wasted.  PUBLIC ENEMIES contains occasional bout of violence like the beating of Billie Frechette.  With the film dragging so much in the first half, these bits of nastiness are a welcome lift of the film from the doldrums.

Beautiful to look at with stunning cinematography, props and musical score, the film’s continuity and lack of drama results in an unmoving and forgettable film.