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 Public Enemies 

What grade would you give this film?
A 30%  30%  [ 6 ]
B 40%  40%  [ 8 ]
C 10%  10%  [ 2 ]
D 5%  5%  [ 1 ]
F 15%  15%  [ 3 ]
Total votes : 20

 Public Enemies 
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Public Enemies

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Public Enemies is a 2009 American crime drama film directed by Michael Mann and written by Mann, Ronan Bennett and Ann Biderman. It is an adaptation of Bryan Burrough's non-fiction book Public Enemies: America's Greatest Crime Wave and the Birth of the FBI, 1933–34. Set during the Great Depression, the film chronicles the final years of the notorious bank robber John Dillinger (Johnny Depp) as he is pursued by Federal Bureau of Investigation agent Melvin Purvis (Christian Bale), and his relationship with Billie Frechette (Marion Cotillard), as well as Purvis' pursuit of Dillinger associates and fellow criminals Homer Van Meter (Stephen Dorff) and Baby Face Nelson (Stephen Graham).

Burrough originally intended to make a television miniseries about the Depression-era crime wave in the United States, but he decided to write a book on the subject instead. Mann developed the project and some scenes were filmed on location where certain events depicted in the film occurred, though the film is not entirely historically accurate.

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Tue Jun 30, 2009 2:29 am
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Post Re: Public Enemies
I got a text at 2:07am that just read "Public enemy was awful"

Yeah, maybe he was talking about the Cagney movie, but I doubt it.

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Wed Jul 01, 2009 10:28 am
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Post Re: Public Enemies
After Miami Vice, I don't trust mainstream audiences (and critics too, for that matter) with Michael Mann movies.

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Wed Jul 01, 2009 10:52 am
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Post Re: Public Enemies
Miami Vice was goood

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Wed Jul 01, 2009 10:57 am
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Post Re: Public Enemies
yeah it is

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Magic Mike wrote:
zwackerm wrote:
If John Wick 2 even makes 30 million I will eat 1,000 shoes.


Same.


Algren wrote:
I don't think. I predict. ;)


Wed Jul 01, 2009 11:23 am
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Post Re: Public Enemies
I still have an issue with the whole HD thing. Mann is obsessed with it.

For a film like Collateral it worked. Public Enemies, maybe not the best idea.


Wed Jul 01, 2009 11:25 am
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Post Re: Public Enemies
I've never been into HD, but it really worked in Miami Vice and I was quite taken with the idea of it in this film. I'm hoping it'll add an interesting sense of immediacy to stodgy period material.

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Wed Jul 01, 2009 11:27 am
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Post Re: Public Enemies
yoshue wrote:
I've never been into HD, but it really worked in Miami Vice and I was quite taken with the idea of it in this film. I'm hoping it'll add an interesting sense of immediacy to stodgy period material.


But look at something like The Untouchables and you dont need trickery like HD to make it work. Having a film set in the 30s doesnt mean it has to be stodgy. It just has to be engaging. And if the critics are right, Mann somehow found a way to misfire.


Wed Jul 01, 2009 11:33 am
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Post Re: Public Enemies
I'll admit, the digital stuff seems at odds with the Dillinger storyline, but I'm still intrigued. And I don't trust the critics at all, given how they treated Miami Vice.

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Magic Mike wrote:
zwackerm wrote:
If John Wick 2 even makes 30 million I will eat 1,000 shoes.


Same.


Algren wrote:
I don't think. I predict. ;)


Wed Jul 01, 2009 11:34 am
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Post Re: Public Enemies
loyalfromlondon wrote:
yoshue wrote:
I've never been into HD, but it really worked in Miami Vice and I was quite taken with the idea of it in this film. I'm hoping it'll add an interesting sense of immediacy to stodgy period material.


But look at something like The Untouchables and you dont need trickery like HD to make it work. Having a film set in the 30s doesnt mean it has to be stodgy. It just has to be engaging. And if the critics are right, Mann somehow found a way to misfire.


You don't need it, but I don't see why it wouldn't make a nice, refreshing change of pace. We shall see.

And Mann can misfire. Oh, can Mann misfire. Right, Muhammad Ali?

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Wed Jul 01, 2009 11:36 am
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Post Re: Public Enemies
I never take critics completely at face value. But at the same time, it's a nice gauge. I would have never thought Public Enemies would be rotten on RT. But at the end of day, I'll judge it for myself.


Wed Jul 01, 2009 11:37 am
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Post Re: Public Enemies
What interesting about the way Public Enemies is shaking down is that a wildly diverse group is going positive. It fits no paradigm I've recognized before. Art House Crazies like Manohla and the Slant dude are positive, as are cranky Jeff Wells and the most level-headed man in film criticism, Michael Phillips. Love that guy.

Then there's Rex Reed. REX REED. When does Rex Reed ever so completely agree with the hipsterDargis? Both of them went mad over the film.

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Wed Jul 01, 2009 11:42 am
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Post Re: Public Enemies
Saw this last night at an advanced showing of this in Oshkosh, WI where several of the scenes were filmed. Pretty exciting to see my hometown featured in such a big movie.

My take on it thus far:
I'm still digesting the film and would love to point out some specific moments of the film that I thought were very well done on an artistic level, but I will wait for others to start seeing it before I do. Mann and his three leads all did a great job. Bale in particular shined more than I thought he would. He handled his character's turmoil very well in the short amount of time that was devoted to him in the film. Depp and Cotillard were great.

For now, let's just say I enjoyed the film a great deal and would recommend it, but I still think it had the feel of a winter movie as opposed to a summer blockbuster.

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Wed Jul 01, 2009 12:23 pm
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Post Re: Public Enemies
theez1 wrote:
Saw this last night at an advanced showing of this in Oshkosh, WI where several of the scenes were filmed. Pretty exciting to see my hometown featured in such a big movie.


They also had a big premiere at the Oriental last night. It's about 2 blocks from me. They had 30's era cars and costumes and such. I was going to go as a waiter. Or jazz singer.


Wed Jul 01, 2009 12:25 pm
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Post Re: Public Enemies
This genre is supposed to be Mann's forte.

If anything, it'll be interesting to see how Mann stumbled.


Wed Jul 01, 2009 2:44 pm
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Post Re: Public Enemies
Eberts review of this film is very accurate. It's very very good, but something
I can't put my finger on keeps it from being great. It's still a recommend though.

B+


Thu Jul 02, 2009 12:02 am
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Post Re: Public Enemies
It approaches greatness, and certain parts of the movie are masterfully handled, but it's brought down from "brilliant" to simply "good" thanks in large part to a weak script. All of the cool lines from the trailer are just as cool in the movie, but there are many moments that are just... quite cheesy, I suppose. And I don't blame it on Mann. However, it's very entertaining and very well-made, Depp and Bale are both terrific, Cotillard is fine, the action sequences are up to par with Mann's best work, and he captures the feel of the '30s quite well.

B+

on a side note, it's easily the most beast movie of the year. Every damn character (even Cotillard's, in one scene) is remarkably cool.

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Thu Jul 02, 2009 2:11 am
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Post Re: Public Enemies
billybobwashere wrote:
on a side note, it's easily the most beast movie of the year. Every damn character (even Cotillard's, in one scene) is remarkably cool.


I don't understand this. A thousand ways I don't understand this.

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Thu Jul 02, 2009 12:07 pm
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Post Re: Public Enemies
yoshue wrote:
billybobwashere wrote:
on a side note, it's easily the most beast movie of the year. Every damn character (even Cotillard's, in one scene) is remarkably cool.


I don't understand this. A thousand ways I don't understand this.


Clearly, its the bestiarum vocabulum of 2009 cinema. What's so hard to understand.


Thu Jul 02, 2009 12:09 pm
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Post Re: Public Enemies
:cry:

Out of all the movies I haven't liked this year, this is by far the most disappointing. The movie's tragic flaw is that you're given very little reason to care about any of the characters. The shootouts are great, but when you don't care what the outcome is, what's the point? Actually, outside of the few bank robberies/shootouts, I found most of the movie to be rather boring. And it moves at such....a.....slow......pace. The last 30 minutes almost redeem the entire film, because it's the only section that's interesting (the scene with Dillinger inside of the police station was great), but it's not enough.

**

Oh. Whoever came up with the idea to shoot in HD (I'm looking at you Mann) for a '30s gangster film... :thumbsup: It doesn't work at all. It worked in both Collateral and Miami Vice because it fit the tone. Here it feels out of place.

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Thu Jul 02, 2009 12:25 pm
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Post Re: Public Enemies
Oh please, Miami Vice was terrible, and the cinematography sucked. The only director who has utilized digital noise well yet is Lynch, and to a degree Danny Boyle.

I'm seeing Public Enemies tonight, though. And I love the look in the trailers. Finally a movie that doesn't drench that era in golden softness (as much as I loved it in, say, Road To Perdition).

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Thu Jul 02, 2009 6:36 pm
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Post Re: Public Enemies
Ohh, I strongly disagree. Miami Vice was well-crafted and had some of the most beautiful cinematography I have seen that year.

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Thu Jul 02, 2009 6:38 pm
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Post Re: Public Enemies
Tyler wrote:
Oh please, Miami Vice was terrible, and the cinematography sucked. The only director who has utilized digital noise well yet is Lynch, and to a degree Danny Boyle.

Way to totally invalidate your own opinion.

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Magic Mike wrote:
zwackerm wrote:
If John Wick 2 even makes 30 million I will eat 1,000 shoes.


Same.


Algren wrote:
I don't think. I predict. ;)


Thu Jul 02, 2009 6:56 pm
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Post Re: Public Enemies
yoshue wrote:
billybobwashere wrote:
on a side note, it's easily the most beast movie of the year. Every damn character (even Cotillard's, in one scene) is remarkably cool.


I don't understand this. A thousand ways I don't understand this.
haha, i guess it's a slang term that hasn't quite spread out beyond my school yet. I think the sentence that follows it describes it well... it means that regardless of whether a character is good, bad, funny, nice, etc., there is that coolness that certain actors bring to the table (though it usually happens with "bad boys").

Daniel Day-Lewis in There Will Be Blood and every young Robert DeNiro performance are two examples of it.

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Thu Jul 02, 2009 7:51 pm
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Post Re: Public Enemies
trixster wrote:
Tyler wrote:
Oh please, Miami Vice was terrible, and the cinematography sucked. The only director who has utilized digital noise well yet is Lynch, and to a degree Danny Boyle.

Way to totally invalidate your own opinion.


Anthony Dod Mantle is a genius. And I'll bet I've forgotten more about dealing with lights and cameras than you will know in a lifetime, you goddamn poseur.

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Thu Jul 02, 2009 8:03 pm
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