10:53am Friday 3rd July 2009
By Damon Smith
PERFECTIONIST director Michael Mann doffs his fedora to Depression-era bank robber John Dillinger in this beautifully-crafted biopic.
Public Enemies surveys a volatile period in America’s history when a group of hoodlums ran rings around J Edgar Hoover and his fledgling Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Mann begins at the Indiana State Penitentiary where Dillinger (Johnny Depp) and associate Red Hamilton (Jason Clarke) spring a number of their cohorts from the slammer, including Harry Pierpoint (David Wenham) and Homer Van Meter (Stephen Dorff), and the gang heads west, relieving the banks of their savings to the embarrassment of the police.
Hoover (Billy Crudup) pledges to capture America’s first public enemy number one as a demonstration of his department’s ability, enlisting tenacious agent Purvis to lead the hunt.
While Dillinger’s gang continues to hit headlines, especially when the sociopath Baby Face Nelson (Stephen Graham) joins its ranks, Dillinger makes the fatal mistake of falling in love with Billie Frechette (Marion Cotillard).
Public Enemies masterfully evokes the era with impeccable production design and costumes, captured in their glory by cinematographer Dante Spinotti.
Mann’s loose shooting style, predominantly on handheld cameras, invests the film with a nervous energy that builds in the breathless action sequences.
Violence is brutal but used sparingly to devastating effect, including a horrific interrogation room sequence.
Depp brings a roguish charm to his role, kindling smouldering screen-chemistry with the luminous Cotillard.
We experience a palpable tinge of sadness as Dillinger walks to his doom with a fateful visit to the Biograph movie theatre to watch the Clark Gable gangster flick Manhattan Melodrama.
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