I saw the Public Enemies screening tonight, and let me just say that Michael Mann is consistently on point. I was worried about his style and the time period clashing, but I'll get to that in a bit.
First, the performances. Johnny Depp plays John Dillinger, and Christian Bale plays the man heading up the Bureau's investigation. Johnny Depp was absolutely perfect for the role. He plays it with such a subtlety, such a perfect cunning. He was great to watch in every scene, especially with Marion Cotillard, who I found myself liking more and more as the movie progressed. Bale nails the necessary accents, and is perfectly suited for the man in charge of the manhunt. My favorite person to pop up was Giovanni Ribisi, who steals every scene he was in.
Michael Mann's style has been retained, and refined. I wish more action minded directors would watch his movies. There's such a clarity to his action, that's been lost in the last couple of years. And, as can be expected, the cinematography is top notch. It's a different time, and different places, but he still finds a way to capture it in that graceful way.
Music was temp, and the sound was half temp. It sounded like all the gun sound effects were the ones recorded live on set. It worked for Heat, and it works here. The guns really pack a punch.
Movie was about two and a half hours, but I'm guessing they'll probably lose another 10-15 minutes just to help pacing and length issues. The movie certainly wasn't slow, but I could see where they could lose a few minutes.
Also, nice to see that Mann doesn't subscribe to PG-13 bullshit when it comes to his movies. Every hit counts, and all the blood was there. A lot of it.
Definitely a recommended film, I can't wait for the final version.

Last night I attended a screening of Public Enemies in Sherman Oaks, CA. I have to say that I was really, really excited to see it and I had great expectations to see it. Johnny Depp, Christian Bale, Michael Mann and Marion Cotillard? I couldn't wait. I arrived at the theatre almost 2 hrs before it started so I was guaranteed to get in. By the time the movie started, there were about 400 people and many did not get in. Michael Mann was there as well and I sat two rows behind him. So what did I think? I was very mixed about it. As soon as the movie ended I couldn't tell if I liked it or not.

Anyways, let's start with the good:

Johnny Depp WAS John Dillinger. It was an amazing performance and he is going to be considered at the Oscars next year. He was one of the few reasons that the movie didn't fail. He wasn't too over the top but he was very believable. I really thought this was one of his best.

Marion Cotillard was excellent as well. She and Depp had believable chemistry but I couldn't tell what her accent was supposed to be. Some words didn't have any accents at all while others sounded like her normal speaking voice. I will have to say that by the she surprised me very much. She has the final scene in the movie and it ended well. (I will say that she surprised me even more because I thought she wasn't *THAT GREAT* in La Vie En Rose--Nom? Yes. Oscar win for that movie? No.)

The cinematography, art direction, costumes and score was top notch. I had no problem with them and I believed I was in the 1930's.

Now onto the disliked/bad part of the movie:

Christian Bale is probably the best actor working today that can pull off a great American accent but that wasn't enough for him to really amaze me. His character wasn't fully written but Bale did very good with what he had.

There were just too many supporting characters as well and I really disliked how they used recognizable faces (Channing Tatum, Leelee Sobieski, and Emilie de Ravin) for characters that were in just a scene or two.

The action scenes were all done very well and the movie was suspenseful but the movie moved slow in some parts and fast in others. It lagged only a few times. I couldn't tell how long the movie was since they didn't start on time and I didn't have my phone, but I would say it is definately more than 2 hrs.

BUT THE MAIN THING THAT BOTHERED ME MOST? The handheld cameras. Really did not like the handheld cameras. During the shoot outs I felt like I was in a video game and that took me out of the movie and it just pissed me off. I couldn't think of why Michael Mann decided to film the movie like that.

I would say that the movie was about 90% finished. It had all the sound effects/editing done, the score was put in and some of the visual/special effects were done as well.

Final Thoughts: The only 10% that needs to be fixed is the editing, the opening of the studio logo and the credits. If Michael Mann and the editor fix some of the handheld shots with superb editing skills, this movie would be so much better. I will say that I will be seeing it again only to see the fantastic Depp and hoping that the movie fixes some of its other problems. Direction was strong as well but again, the handheld cameras really ruined it for me. But the film has so much potential and if it fixes the majority of its problems it should and could be a big Oscar contender.
by movietvwatcher

I saw all these "Public Enemies" reviews - and they got me miffed. I was there too and these reviews were clearly written by plants or hardcore Mann-iacs. For I think if any other director made this overlong period turd - they would be giving it a lot more flack.

Don't get me wrong - the film's not HORRIBLE - but it's certainly only made for 1930s gangster fans and hardcore Michael Mann fans. The rest of you will be disappointed.

Let me start with the one thing Mann does right. The Tommy Gunn shoot out. Freaking amazing. The rat-a-tat-tat of the tommy guns blaring against trees and storefronts is fantastic. Picture Heat in the 30's. But these scenes are few and far between. There are maybe 4 or 5 of them in the two and half hour running time.

The rest of the time we're stuck with the massively underdeveloped Christian Bale - who's character lacks anything of substance, therein making it incredibly hard to feel anything for him. And you have Depp who does a decent job, but does far from anything mind-blowing or game-changing.

In the beginning of the film Dillinger (Depp) falls for Marion Cotillard after staring at her from across the room. Her nonexistent "darker skin" that he speaks of, makes her his true love - and every scene between the two of them felt completely forced and non-sensical to me. Sadly their weak "love story" becomes a major player in the story.

Which brings me to the main problem I had with this early version of the film. Even the comment cards passed out at the end asked "what is the plot of this movie?" Is it Dillinger vs the world, Dillinger vs Purvis (Bale), Dillinger and his Love? For me it was a poor mix of all them without one clear story to cling on to.

I'll admit I didn't know much about Dillinger before going in. But after walking out all I'm left to assume - is that he was a pretty boy, somewhat quiet toughie, who robbed banks. Yet the film's portrayal constantly puts him next to "badder guys who shoot innocents" and has him "punching the mean guy at the coat check desk who's waiting for the girl to stop talking to Dillinger and get him his coat" - all these not so subtle story points try to make the audience think "ah he wasn't that bad a guy" - but he was clearly a bad guy. He killed a ton of people and he stole bank's money for HIS gain. He was no Robin Hood. I wish they would have given us more of a fair reason why he wasn't a bad guy - or just made him more of a bad guy - rather than BS mid-ground playing both sides.

With a two and half hour movie there needs to be a clear person to root for - Look at American Gangster - a much lesser known tale which made you root for Denzel Washington, while also seeing all the shady evil he had inside of him - Depp's Dillinger doesn't come even close to that sort of performance. And Bale has absolutely no story whatsoever. It's almost as if Mann cut it all out in fear of the public's sudden opinion of Bale screaming at that DP on T4. Anyone could have given Bale's performance.

Here's hoping this early cut gets MUCH tighter, and helps establish more between the Bale and Depp drama. SexyWhisk out.