Wednesday 22nd July

Public Enemies

Director: Michael Mann
Year: 2009
Stars: Johnny Depp, Christian Bale, Marion Cotillard

I love gangster movies, and had quite high hopes for this - when I first heard about it months ago, anyway. However, after reading the reviews I was less sure. But I still thought it was worth giving it a chance - the trailer made me think that what I feared was the case, but there was still a glimmer of hope.

The film is all about Johnny Dillinger, one of the real-life American '30s gangsters that the public chose to love. You may well know a bit about his life and history, but if not I won't ruin the plot for you here!

The reviews weren't really wrong. The film isn't a bad one - it just lacks some sort of substance. After a fairly lengthy discussion, Dan and I eventually agreed that it was to do with the characterisation - there simply isn't enough time spent getting to know the characters. Johnny Depp and Christian Bale (two actors I truly admire - primarily for their acting ability, although Depp's looks help too) both do the best with the material they're given, but there's just not a lot of material.

Perhaps there wasn't a lot to say about the characters lives other than that they were gangsters, but this makes for a very stylish film without much thought needed. Not a bad gangster movie exactly, but when you have films like Bonnie and Clyde and Scarface (either version) around, it's not going to win many accolades.

Rating: 3 out of 5

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About Me

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I live in Bristol with my husband Dan (who I married in July 2007), my son Joe (born 2012) and daughter Jess (born 2015). I work at UWE (the University of the West of England) in Bristol as a Research and Open Access Librarian. I'm orginally from Exeter, so moving back to Bristol is a bit like coming home - especially as I studied for my undergraduate degree here (also at UWE). I love travelling and movies, although I get to do a lot less of both since the birth of our children. Although we have still managed to fit in holidays to the Isles of Scilly, Chamonix and a summer in California since Joe was born.