Among the most boring movies ever. Both my wife and I agreed that it failed to create any tension, failed to make Dillinger seem even remotely interesting, and failed utterly at story telling.
Everything about this movie seemed like an afterthought.
The cast was full of wonderful actors and some of the finest faces in the world of character actors. Yet none of them could save this complete flop.
Stunningly bad film-making.
I disagree completely with you. I found this film very captivating and quite humerus at times. Christian Bale wasn’t anything special in this film, but I thought that Johny Depp was great.
Spoiler
I did have a couple of problems with the plot. One being that it didn’t make any sense for Dillinger to care so much about Billie. He met her and within days he was risking his life to be with her because he loved her so much. I think that there might have been a time jump that I missed, so let me know if this is the case.
The fact that Depp has an interesting face does not make every performance outstanding. He looks interesting, but he phoned this one in.
I think you missed the mustache. When Dillinger and Billie meet in Chicago, Dillinger is sans mustache. When they are at the Florida racetrack, Hialeah Park, in a subsequent scene he is sporting a mustache which served the purpose of indicating the passage of time.
You’re right. I actually did notice the mustache. But I obviously either forgot or didn’t clue in all the way.
I am not as good of a movie critic as I want to be, which might actually be a good thing. I enjoy most movies, and in my opinion this one was worth the 10 dollars that I spent to see it.
I really don’t base my opinion of actors on what they look like. I think that Bale’s face looks about as interesting as Depp’s. But I think that Depp was right for the role he played. I thought that his character was believable and that he gave a memorable performance. Bale’s didn’t really stand out to me. I think that it was because his character could have been played better by a different actor. It seemed like he wasn’t quite right for the role.
I’m wondering, what exactly is it about an actor’s performance that makes you like or dislike it? For me it usually isn’t a black and white thing.
Flavor FlAAAAAAAAAV
Perhaps it was intentional since so many movies these days are being made from comics and graphic novels, but I found Depp’s performance and most of his lines to be cartoonish and flat.
When I compare this to similar crime dramas like The Godfather, Bonnie and Clyde, The Long Riders, The Wild Bunch, and even The Untouchables it just doesn’t hold up at all.
Take the scene, for example, when Dillinger returns to collect Billie and she’s back working as a coat check girl. Some guy is trying to get his coat back and Dillinger is talking to her and the guy insists that she get his coat and Dillinger slugs him. All that did for me was make Dillinger look like an annoying dick. Nothing about that scene made me the least bit interested in getting inside the characters head.
Now compare that scene to the one in Goodfellas when the Joe Pesci character murders the water boy kid in the local club. That character is an even bigger dick to be sure, but the way the scene was performed and shot fascinated the audience and sucked them into the characters state of mind.
I see now that Michael Mann who directed Public Enemies also did Heat and Miami Vice, two painfully awful movies. I’m pretty sure I considered self immolation while waiting for Heat to end. Mann has a knack for turning talented actors into drones.
+1;)
It was a slow flick. It had a few interesting moments of history. It was over two hours in length.
What I got most from it?
People die slow and have something to say after being shot with bullets.
I like his looks, mannerisms, and accent. My friend didn’t know it was Bale for most of the movie.
I fell asleep near the start of Miami Vice (well i think it was near the start any way 
) So if the others aren’t any better I presume theyre pretty bad, and wont bother watching them lol.
Any possible value or performance that this film did have was lost in the cinematography and sound design.
It was shot partially on film and partially in HD which makes no sense for a period gangster film. The hand held camera work was just distracting and made it hard to tell what the heck was going on. And all the gun sounds were unnecessarily loud. I get that they were trying to make guns on film sound more like actual guns, but it was totally unnecessary. It some kind of fun scenes and moments but that was it.
YEAH BOIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
I saw Public Enemy do their only Uk gig in recent years a few months back. I would highl;y reccomend them.
I read the thread title and thought der Kommisar was compiling a list…
Of course if the movie was that bad, maybe we should initiate a list of public enemies to include the director.
Public enemies do things like this:
That movie sucks major dick.
You like that picture.
lol Just thought I’d have some fun. Hope it wasn’t too annoying…
I agree. I thought the movie was really bad.
They could have made it so cool too…but failed