Public Enemy

2 out of 5

With great anticipation, I went to see Public Enemy today. Unfortunately, I was mostly underwhelmed by this movie. The first part of the movie was poorly paced and repetitive in nature. The last half hour redeemed the movie a bit, but there were only a couple of standout scenes, which was surprising considering the cast and the subject!

The most frustrating scene for me was the one where Bale as Melvin Pervis (the head guy working for Hoover) and Dillinger meet face to face in the jail cell. This could have been an amazing, memorable scene, but it wasn't. I have to blame it on the screenwriters. I was looking for one of those scenes where you walk out talking about it. A scene like the one in True Romance between Dennis Hopper and Christopher Walken for example. Public Enemy was written and directed by Michael Mann who wrote and directed Heat. What about the scene between Deniro and Pacino in that film? That is what I wanted from this movie and it did not deliver. Mann wrote this screenplay with two other people? It didn't work.

Many reviewers are being far too generous. Yes, visually it was stunning and there were some great shootout scenes. However, they seemed strung together randomly and not enough story was there to fill in the audience. The fake gun, why not explain it!I knew how it was made because my father told me. It's a cool story...TELL IT!

Many in the audience were confused by the "woman in the red dress" instead being the "woman in the white blouse and orange skirt." This movie was based on a book, I get it, but come on. Stick with some of the myth! It's more dramatic!

The allure of casting Bale still alludes me. He is good, but VERY forgettable. Depp was fine, but did not do anything spectacular. Marion Coltillard as Billie Frechette was the only one who had something to work with scriptwise. The one memorable scene was her "torture" scene. Very dramatic and intense. It stood out among the drabness of the rest of the movie. Billy Crudup was also stellar as J. Edgar Hoover. With a brilliantly subtle makeup job and a great speech pattern, Crudup also stood out. Again, Bale being outacted (see Heath Ledger in Dark Knight)! Why do they keep casting him? Actually, he can act, so why does he keep taking these parts that don't highlight his talent? He was fantastic in The Machinist and American Psycho! What a waste!

I think I was looking for an in depth (not Deppth! HA!) character study with some action scenes, instead I got a plot driven action movie.

Public Enemy was not number one for me!