Public Enemies

Public Enemies is a movie I have been looking forward to for a very long time. What an incredible idea, paired with an all star cast under the direction of Michael Mann, you can see why I was excited. However, even with all the potential, Public Enemies, to me, came up way short.

The most glaring problem I had with the movie was the pacing. Besides the first scene, much of the first half of the film was devoted to developing the plot line and the main characters, but done so with little care and focus. I had no idea who was doing what and why. It was also slow and monotone. Just boring. Furthermore, I felt none the wiser after all that half assed exposition, which ended abruptly with a flurry of machine gun fights left and right. I know that sounds awesome, but the action sequences needed to be spaced out more; I felt like I was watching two different movies that were desperately searching for it's counterpart.

The other problem I had was the lack of storytelling. I was itnroduced to too many characters, too quickly and done so too carelessly, that I missed the significance (and often the name as well) of said characters.

Having said all this, the movie wasn't bad. The action, though cluttered and a little heavy at the end of the movie, was engaging and realistic. It kept me on the edge of my seat. Plus, star power alone was going to make the movie average at the very least. Johnny Depp was good in this one, but inconsistent. Early in the movie, he was throwing away his lines with the same dry tone, but then at the end of the movie, he showed some serious range. Christian Bale was fine, but it was often confusing how much authority his character was meant to have. The real gem, however was Marion Cotillard. Her performance may draw more oscar consideration after she brought home the hardware last year. She was fantastic and compelling and she made her character's story line most fulfilling. 

This movie cold have, and probably should have, been a lot better. It felt slow at times and rushed at others, and hastily started way more story lines that they wrapped up.  All of this could have been remedied with better pacing and better focus on character development and plot lines. What saved it was fantastic by Marion Cotillard and two big name stars. All in all, it was largely average.

Muller's Grade: C

If you liked this flick, check out: American Gangster, Donnie Brasco, Heat