Public Enemies

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flickchick85 said:
When John turns around to the first guy (Reinecke) who was pointing a gun at his back, with nothing but a glare, scares the guy stiff, freezing him in his tracks...
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Schlosser85 said:
They really made Reinecke look like an a$$.
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I kept thinking to myself about how much Reinecke looked like Mr. Incredible.... :hehe:

mr20incredible.jpg
 
OMG, one of my friends said that too, and I totally agree. :D
 
I think I spotted Threshold! it was out of focus but it looked very much like that picture he's posted of himself a few times. It was in the scene where depp meets Billie, when hes talking to Giavoni Ribisi. theres a shot from behind them, and right in between the faces and across the aisle is the man i suspect to be Threshold.
 
I thought Billy Crudup was great in this film. There were times when I thought Depp and Bale were very good but much of the time Depp seemed to be skating a bit, i don't know. Bale just didn't have much to do but what he did he did well.
 
yeah Billy Crudup is on the rise.

I wish I was lurking in this movie though...too bad.
 
I liked the scene where Purvis says he can't do this job on his own and Hoover keeps saying "I cannot hear you" and making him repeat himself. Also the slight "hint hint" in the way Clyde Tolson is always always sitting there whenever they show Hoover.
 
The first thing to praise about Public Enemies is Johnny Depp, the film rests it's fedora firmly on his charisma and he doesn't disappoint, cutting a charming and charismatic figure as Dillinger, a fun loving and funny bank robber with an undoubted dangerous edge to him. Depp owns the screen and every second he is not on it the film is that bit weaker.

Now support wise everyone is good, Bale, who has come in for a lot of unfair criticism recently in my book, is fine as the square jawed, fastidious lawman, it's just that the role is a character type rather than a fully fleshed out character. We get to know Melvin Purvis is a driven and intelligent man who dressed in perfectly cut suits, but beyond that there is little delving into what makes him tick. Marion Collitard is excellent as Dilliger's girl Billy, her soulful eyes say more than her lines ever could and fortunately she strikes up an easy chemistry with Depp on screen to make that central relationship work because there really is not a great deal of time for development.

Time...that is the movies main enemy, there just isn't enough of it, the film feels like a lot of vignettes meshed together, kind of like snapshots of the characters as opposed to any meaningful development. bits of story are thrown in here and there, things whip along, bank jobs happen, then Dillinger has a dodgy stache and is at the races with Billy, it never feels like the film sets into a story driven rythym.

However this is not to detract from how entertaining and engaging these scenes are, indeed there are lots of wonderful scenes in the film and some big shootouts, although I still question the need to shoot partly in HD digital and partly in regular film, it gives an uneven feel to proceedings, one minute you are in a lavish 30's gangster era film and the next you are watching a 30's version of COPS. This is particularly evident in the well shot but jarring gun battles. Mann is a technically brilliant director and the film has some wonderful shots, but you can't help but ask "If it ain't broke why fix it ?"

The film flirts with the idea of the birth of celebrity and the techniques that were coming into law enforcement such as wire tapping, but these are brief and never more than a side diversion in between more charismatic scene stealing from Depp.

Public Enemies never quite reaches the heights of Mann's masterpiece HEAT or for that matter The Untouchables, it is good but I couldn't help but feel the great scenes could have been part of a greater movie with a longer run time. Still what is here is an erratic but entertaining gangster film with a magnetic performance from a true star in Johnny Depp.

7.5/10
 
The movie was way better than I thought it would be. I even cried at the end a bit. The whole cast was great. Some of the camera work bugged the hell out of me though. 9/10
 
it was... okay. there was no flow/pace to the story and the romance plot wasn't done well.

There are a bunch of great scenes but overall it doesnt work
 
I felt this was alot better than Collaterall, but like most Mann films i think it has some very good moments in it, but ultimatley is just superficial. The Insider is an exception to that though, great film.

I think Depp is good in this but unspectacular, and this is due to the script. Dillinger is a very 2-D character. It's not exactly a challenge for Depp to look cool, charming and swaggering.
 
I don't understand the overwhelming love for Marion that seems rampant around SHH. But that's just me.
 
Well, except for myriad historical time line inaccuracies (JEH's Senate meeting was in 1936; BF Nelson's demise 5 months later than JD, etc.), and some technical snafus (a 1936 Chevy in 1934; a Thompson 50 round drum that holds 150 rounds and never needs changing), it was a pretty decent biopic...all involved did really good work (especially Stephen Lang), but it could have been longer to suit me...
Rob
 
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I just think she's right up there with Meryl Streep and Cate Blanchett as one of the greatest actresses on the planet. Based mostly on her French work of course, but PE was a great addition to her already impressive and eclectic collection of performances, imo.
 
My "issue" with watching any foreign film is I find it impossibly difficult to gauge how good the actor/actress is. The different dialect and the constant "looking down" for subtitles often times (for me) disturbs how I read acting. I just can't tell if the delivery is good or not, unless it's a scene involving intense emotions.

Marion's been awesome from what I've seen, but this will be the true test for me as it's an American film. I'll be watching it in a few minutes, so fingers crossed I'm not disappointed.
 
Crook said:
My "issue" with watching any foreign film is I find it impossibly difficult to gauge how good the actor/actress is. The different dialect and the constant "looking down" for subtitles often times (for me) disturbs how I read acting. I just can't tell if the delivery is good or not, unless it's a scene involving intense emotions.
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This can be true, which is why I tend to watch foreign films multiple times - once I already know what's being said and don't need to read it, I can really start to notice the vocal inflections, etc.

That said, the aspects of Cotillard's performances that impress me most are the non-verbal ones. She's one of the most transparent actresses I've ever seen, in that she can tell you exactly what she's thinking/feeling all the time, with nothing but a simple glance, expression, or facial tick. Her performances are just incredibly nuanced.

Anyway, have fun at the movie, Crook! It's proving to be very divisive with critics and audiences, so it'll be interesting to hear your reaction when you get back.
 
I liked Crudup's mid-Atlantic 'radio/news reporter' accent, that was big back in the 30s.
 
octoberist said:
i liked crudup's mid-atlantic 'radio/news reporter' accent, that was big back in the 30s.
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"dateline, hollywood - 1935! The big brass are about to reveal their newest golden boy, and let me tell you, it's a bully day for all!"

:oldrazz:
 
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