'Public Enemies' review

"I'm John Dilinger, I rob banks," confesses Johnny Depp to woman he just met in an attempt to woo her. That statement is similar to how director Michael Mann offers John Dilinger to the audience - nonchalant and matter of fact. In Public Enemies we do not meet a stylized caricature of the 1930s bank robber; Mann also doesn't do much to have us sympathize with the character. We see no flashbacks of Dilinger's tortured childhood, no graphic depiction of alcohol abuse, no portrayal of womanizing. Dilinger robs banks, no significant amount of time is spent delving into other depths of this character. This lack of sensationalism is unconventional, but as Dilinger's offer to a young woman to be "his girl" is successful so is Mann's straightforward presentation.

Depp, especially as of late, is well known for portraying characters that are larger than life or eccentric (especially with the 'Pirates' films). One would expect something similar in his appraoch to personify an infamous bank robber during the Great Depression, but surprisingly Depp is reserved and understated as Dilinger. Depp's performance shows a small range of emotion and very intentional when he shows glimpses of softness. One of very few smiles he cracks is when he lavishes his new girl with a new fur coat. His other smirks are much more self aware and relaxed, including his pleased look while watching a news update about himself at the cinema. Depp keeps scenes interesting because he holds so much back. The character he created is appreciated in subtleties and glances and is never heavy handed.

Christian Bale offers a similar performance as the FBI (near the Bureau's inception) agent who is set to the task of apprehending Dilinger. He is similar to Dilinger in that his one driving force is in trying to catch Dilinger, but unfortunately we don't get to see how much this character is effected by Dilinger because we see so little of him. This is one of my biggest complaints with the film - the painful under use of Christian Bale. In watching the film progress there is a longing to see deeper sides of Bale's character, to know the complexities and conflicts he has, but there is no payoff in this area which is a shame.

One disclaimer to all is that this quality film is being horrendously mismarketed as the action movie event of the summer which it certainly is not. The 4th of July weekend is even misleading as this film does not mesh with fighting robots and other fare this time of year has to offer. I am afraid that this film will not be well received and that is not because of it's quality but because it didn't meet the viewers expectations. Many will also be turned off by the style as it was shot on digital video as opposed to film. The tight, shaky camera seems appropriate and makes the film seem more personal but it does seem modern for a period piece and that can take the audience out of the story. While the film is a little overlong and does not flesh out the supporting characters well it is still a very fine film, one of the better ones I've seen in recent weeks, and with proper expectations most will find something to appreciate about it as well.

Final word - 8/10

Top 10 of 2008

Alright this one won't be too hard seeing as 2008 did not end that long ago. Overall it was a solid year for new films with possibly the best summer season ever with great stuff like The Dark Knight, Wall-e and Iron man. The awards season was bittersweet with the best material getting overlooked while the decent offerings were ridiculously overrated (ya I'm looking at you Slumdog). Alright I'll just get to my list now.. Oh and I have not decided if I should list these from 1 down to 10 or from 10 to 1, any preferences??

10. Paranoid Park - One of 2 Van Sant films on this list

9. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button - A tad overlong but still fine epic storytelling from Fincher

8. Doubt - Hands down best ensemble acting of the year especially from Viola Davis

7. Snow Angels - Probably Sam Rockwell's best performance.

6. Wall-E - Beautiful story and animation from the near flawless Pixar

5. Synecdoche, New York - Kaufman's ambitious debut was worth the confusion it caused

4. The Dark Knight - pretty much mandatory on a list like this

3. Milk - A deeply emotional film that tells a tragic story and avoids the cliches that are expected

2. The Wrestler - Rich character piece that hangs on the sturdy shoulders Mickey Rourke

1. Revoltuionary Road - Sam Mendes' first film disected suburban life in the 90s, here he looks into that same culture around the the time it became common in the 1950s. Dicaprio and Winslet are fantastic in their portrayal of a would-be perfect American family as they combat against the expectations of the culture they bought into.

Honorable mentions-

Funny Games, Slumdog Millionaire, Iron Man

well.. there it is

First post!

Well I sure do appreciate the Internet (do you capitalize internet?) sometimes. Less than half an hour ago I thought since I think and/or talk about movies quite a bit how it would be convenient to have a place spew all my thoughts and criticisms and share them with the 3 and a half people who care, and now this blog exists. The first big project I want to work on is compiling best films lists from years past. Towards the end of the year critic, reporters, bloggers and nerds (I guess those last two are mostly synonomous) create a list of the 10 best films that year had to offer. I have done this for a couple years but want to start with the most recent year and work back as far as I can. I'll also probably share words about new films that I see (but I probably won't do that yet since the last film I saw was Transformers and there is already plenty written that describes it so well "If you want to save yourself the ticket price, go into the kitchen, cue up a male choir singing the music of hell, and get a kid to start banging pots and pans together. Then close your eyes and use your imagination" so there's no need for me too) or movies that I get to watch with my wife that she somehow missed and then I get to watch with her for the first time. This probably isn't a very good introduction since I don't have anything clever to say (coming up with the name for the url is all I have for the night) but I might someday so check in to see how that pans out.