Public Enemies
Public Enemies introduces a new millennium audience, probably for the first time, to household names that were criminals with rock star status almost a century ago. This new audience didn’t have the benefit of The Untouchables every week but thanks to MTV might appreciate the allure of the gangsta lifestyle to an oppressed population. During The Depression years and the early days of the FBI the majority of people were ghettoized so they might appreciate that the Robin Hood antics of bank robbers like Baby Face Nelson or Pretty Boy Floyd fostered some hero worship. Of course since the days of the real Walter Winchell’s staccato TV voice over of the work done by Elliot Ness et al we’ve learned that J. Edgar Hoover was a mama’s boy who wore dresses to séances so here played by Billy Crudup he’s not so heroic. That’s left to Melvin Purvis (Christian Bale) a righteous G-man without a lot of legal teeth but under orders from Hoover to use whatever means imaginable to capture public enemy #1 - John Dillinger (Johnny Depp). The film has a meticulously authentic look and clearly Hollywood expected great things judging by the small parts played by big names like Giovanni Ribisi, Channing Tatum, Leelee Sobieski and even Diana Krall as a torch singer. Depp is his usual treat to watch work and Bale is believable in his role but outside of Dillinger's love interest in Billie Frechette (Marion Cotillard) and his souring relationship with the remnants of Al Capone’s gang not much new in the way of character is fleshed out. That gets set aside to make room for an over abundance of gunplay to satiate a restless MTV generation so ironically that may imply that the public is the enemy of this film. At least they inspired a cool soundtrack.