Gangster movie celebrates glory days
Johhny Depp carefully blends cocky arrogance with underlying heart and humanity to create his interpetation of John Dillinger for Public Enemies, a new gangster flick from director Michael Mann.
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Updated: July 17, 2009 9:57 AM
I love gangster movies. There’s just something about the look, the feel, the wise guy chatter (“We’re gonna knock over this bank without hurtin’ the dames, see … ”). A good gangster flick hooks you, almost romances your imagination. And Michael Mann’s Public Enemies is not only good, it pays homage to — and I honestly don’t even know if it’s politically correct to term it this way — the glory days of the genre.
Set during the Great Depression — an era when the most flamboyant bank robbers became outlaw heroes, almost like contemporary Robin Hoods — Public Enemies tells the tale of the most notorious of them all, John Dillinger. The fact that Johnny Depp plays the man is icing on an already scrumptious slab of cake.
See, Depp’s Dillinger is a charmer. He’s not without his dark side, obviously, but he’s a cagey media darling. Dillinger targets banks not only because that’s where the money is, but because the public views the bank as the enemy. Guess what that makes Dillinger? And for a guy who mastered the art of making a drunk, grungy and unethical pirate an overwhelming hero, Depp performs the same kind of magic with John Dillinger. His creation is a carefully executed blend of cocky arrogance and underlying heart and humanity.
The film follows Dillinger and his gang from job to job, ducking into the odd nightclub or safe house, as they evade capture by agent Melvin Purvis (Christian Bale) and the FBI’s spruced-up methods of investigation. Along the way, Dillinger meets coat check girl Billie Frechette (Marion Cotillard) and he falls head over heels in love with her even though he’s fully aware that their relationship puts her in grave danger.
Directed by Mann (Heat, Miami Vice), Public Enemies delivers the dose of action you’d expect. There are robberies, shootouts and prison breaks galore. What you probably won’t expect is how the film never loses its identity as a quality, character-driven drama, something Mann isn’t exactly renowned for (well … save for the few minutes he allowed DeNiro and Pacino to stare one another down).
I would’ve liked to get a bit more inside the head of Bale’s Purvis. Was the guy really such an emotionally thin machine or is he just portrayed that way? In any case, Purvis is such a heartless drone, it’s easy to cheer for Dillinger in this one, even though the outcome of the cat-and-mouse chase is evident to anyone with access to Wikipedia.
Crisp, exciting and more focused than most fireworks-induced summer blockbusters, Public Enemies is a winner. More layered than your usual rat-a-tat gangster goodie, but just as pleasing.
Out of a possible five stars, I’ll give Public Enemies a four. The feature is currently playing at the Pen-Mar Cinema Centre in Penticton.
Jason Armstrong is a movie reviewer living in the Okanagan
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