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Despite having a budget to work with, Manns film, supposedly based on the life of John Dillinger ( played here in a very pedestrian manner by Johnny Depp ) can't hold a candle to other films that precede it
Specifically: (1973) "Dillinger" has a far more believable Warren Oates in charge and a way more attractive ( Mommas + Papas ) Michelle Phillips as Billy Frechette, Oates plays the swaggering wise-cracking Dillinger as he surely would have been
Manns version by comparison is emotionally bloodless, has almost no character development + Depps version of acting is delivering lines with the same deliberately paced monotone and immovable scowl regardless of the situation; he really doesn't know what to do with his part, and it shows
Two scenarios almost work; one is a breakout from a State prison which develops a moments tension ( but no more ), the other is Dillinger seeing himself as Clark Gable in a film screening near the end of "Enemies"
Some of the night-time cinematography is hand-held/jerky + poor resolution as if shot with a Handycam, not good enough for the big screen or for a director with a track record ( and one who has filmed some of the best night sequences ever: the rain falling in the alleyway at the start of "Thief" for e.g. )One scene I found laughably bad; after introducing Dillingers mechanic who proudly announces: " these're all hopped up Straight-8's; Hudsons + Buicks " as getaway cars, however, the next robbery the gang commit has 1/2 a dozen people exiting the Bank, guns blazing, with Depp casually waiting for them in a black 1935 Chevrolet 2-Door sedan; about the slowest thing on wheels back then, and all these people are going to pile into the little Chev *somehow* tooled up + with their loot + escape at speed ( yeah, right )
This is the only time Michael Mann has succeeded in disappointing me ( I even liked Collateral! ) tho' I've liked some of his films more than others, "Public Enemies" is just way more miss than hitVerdict: a decidedly messy + amateur production, worst thing I've seen on the big screen in ages
GW
Edits: 01/18/10 01/18/10Follow Ups:
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