FOKER MOVIE REVIEW - PUBLIC ENEMIES (From Croydon Guardian)

FOKER MOVIE REVIEW - PUBLIC ENEMIES

11:03pm Tuesday 30th June 2009

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John Dillinger was probably the most famous gangster in American history and it’s hard to believe that his fame only lasted 14 months from May 1933 to July 1934. It’s this period in Dillinger’s life that director Michael Mann invites us to experience. From the very opening prison break sequence Dillinger is already ‘Public Enemy Number One’, no background story just a suave, calculated outlaw. An anti-hero to the people more Butch Cassidy than Robin Hood who robbed the very banks that were the prime cause of the depression and he gave the finger to the government who were incapable of repairing the damage (all sounds very familiar?) and who better cast to play this master criminal than Johnny Depp?

Depp is superb as Dillinger a man who courted the fame with almost movie star status and he loved to watch Hollywood gangster movies whose scripts were often inspired by his own dangerous lifestyle. Dillinger made a mockery of the Chicago Police Force by outmanoeuvring them at every turn, with well planned bank raids, superior fire power and had the advantage of the much faster Ford V8 getaway cars.

J Edgar Hoover (Billy Crudup) saw the capture of such a high profile gangster as a way to bring his up and coming FBI agency to prominence. He brought in a top agent called Melvin Purvis (Christian Bale) to bring down Dillinger by whatever means possible. Purvis was also a popular public figure with his Clarke Gable good looks and Michael Mann even allows us a ‘De Niro - Pacino’ moment when the two titans meet briefly for the first time.

The problem was that the Police Squad Purvis inherited were not up to the job which resulted in many casualties through lack of experience in dealing with such an organised band of outlaws. Purvis persuaded Hoover to let him bring in a crew of professional lawmen from Dallas. With this crack team Purvis pursues Dillinger with an almost obsessive drive and in one particular scene the agents track down Dillinger’s gang to a hideout in the woods known as Little Bohemia Lodge. The gun battle that explodes on the screen between the agents and the Dillinger gang including the sociopathic Baby Face Nelson (Britain’s Stephen Graham of Snatch fame) and killer Homer Van Meter (Stephen Dorff from Blade) is incredible. It’s a 1930’s version of the downtown LA shoot out from ‘Heat’ except this time the extremely loud rat-atat-tating of the Thompson sub machine gun reverberates down your spine as though you the viewer is under fire. Now I’m not sure if this is due to the fact that the film was shot entirely in digital or if the sound technician just cranked the level up to 11?

In amongst all of the macho gun play and cat and mouse antics of the two main leads, there is an underlying love story between Dillinger and hatcheck girl Billie Frechette played by French actress Marion Cotillard who won an Oscar for her portrayal of Edith Piaf. Billie goes along for the ride and falls in love with him even though she knows that the inevitable outcome will be bloody.

Michael Mann stuck very close to historic events and many of the scenes are played out in the original buildings complete with authentic bullet holes. And with the likes of a Billie Holiday and Benny Goodman soundtrack you feel as though you are in the 1930’s but Mann still throws in a modern touch with Diana Krall singing ‘Bye Bye Blackbird’ a song which has a poignant place in the movie.

At the moment I can’t think of any actor more charismatic than Johnny Depp working in movies today. So sit back and enjoy the experience!