Christian Bale Movie:

		List Price: $36.98		Label: Universal Studios Salesrank: 30 Released: December 8, 2009
		Our Price: $18.88
		Used Price: $14.99
		MPAA Rating: R (Restricted) Media: Blu-ray

Editorial Review:
From award-winning director Michael Mann (Heat, Collateral) comes the film inspired by one of the country’s most captivating and infamous outlaws — John Dillinger. Johnny Depp (Pirates of the Caribbean series) stars as the charismatic and elusive bank robber marked by the FBI as America’s first “Public Enemy Number One.” Academy Award® winner Marion Cotillard (La Vie en Rose) plays Billie Frechette, the only woman capable of capturing his heart. Hunted relentlessly by top FBI agent Melvin Purvis (Christian Bale, The Dark Knight), Dillinger engages in an escalating game of outrunning and outgunning the FBI, culminating in an explosive, legendary showdown. “It’s a landmark crime saga” (Peter Travers, Rolling Stone).

Description of Public Enemies [Blu-ray]:
Since crime auteur Michael Mann, like his protagonists, plays by his own rules, Public Enemies eschews back story and motivation for a closely-observed, action-packed examination of men at work. FBI supremo J. Edgar Hoover (Billy Crudup) kick-starts a nationwide manhunt when he proclaims John Dillinger (Johnny Depp, in top form) Public Enemy #1. Hoover taps Agent Melvin Purvis (Christian Bale) to bring the Tommy Gun-toting bank robber in by any means necessary (the agency also targets Pretty Boy Floyd and Baby Face Nelson). If Dillinger had split the scene then and there, he might have enjoyed a happier fate, but he falls for beautiful coat-check girl Billie Frechette (Marion Cotillard, whose open-hearted performance makes her the most sympathetic character in the film). In the end, though, Dillinger is the captain of his own destiny: his loyalty to his girl and his gang overpowers his desire to live free. Though the director also set his first film, Thief, and third series, Crime Story, in his native Chicago, Public Enemies plays more like Heat in Depression-era garb. In that L.A. policier, Al Pacino's cop develops a grudging respect for Robert De Niro's criminal, but letting a lawbreaker go free isn't an option. In this case, however, the tight-lipped Purvis never develops the same sort of esteem for Dillinger--or Hoover--making him the more tragic figure. If Public Enemies is less overtly commercial than The Untouchables or Bugsy, it's still the best mainstream gangster epic in ages and ranks among Mann's finest works. --Kathleen C. Fennessy

Stills from Public Enemies (Click for larger image)

Public Enemies [Blu-ray] Reviews:
Boring and Terrible Blu-ray Transfer
2009-12-11 - Public Enemies [Blu-ray]

Wow. This movie was intensely boring. I'm a huge Michael Mann and Johnny Depp fan, and this movie was not even remotely what I was expecting. It was two hours and twenty minutes of slow, which I don't necessarily mind; however, when it is made impossible to get emotionally invested in a character, you just get bored. I didn't remotely care about what happened to anyone in this movie. There was no depth to any character in this film.

I gave it two stars instead of one because Christian Bale wasn't grunting like an obese man who had just ran a mile. Seriously, Christian, Michael Keaton could change his tone of voice without sounding like Cookie Monster; I'm sure you could, as well. Work on that before you start filming the next Batman, please.

Anyway: Boredom, no depth.

As for the Blu-ray transfer, I would really like it if Universal Studios spent as much time coming up with a decent digital transfer as they do on working on all of the U-Control nonsense on their Blu-ray discs. I was really getting tired of looking at a gorgeous scene of Agent Purvis hunting down a gangster in an apple orchard and then having to watch a grainy, white-specked scene of Dillinger driving a car. I had the same issue on the third season of Heroes, also Universal Studios. It's incredibly annoying and they should have people watch these Blu-ray discs before they are sent to print.

Historically inaccurate to the max
2009-12-11 - If you know little or nothing about the history behind the desperadoes of the 1930s and the FBI's pursuit of them this bit of fluff probably isn't bad entertainment. If you are well read regarding John Dillinger and his life and times the inaccuracies are numerous, blatant and annoying. I made the mistake of buying the two disc special edition. The documentary portion shows very little in the way of historical material on Dillinger or his times. It mainly focuses on the cast while congratulating the director who brags that many of the sets he used are landmarks where some of the historical events took place. He paid great attention to using artifacts of the period for authenticities sake. Too bad that he didn't instruct whoever wrote the screenplay to follow suit. The pity of it is that an accurate representation of the facts would have been been better than the fiction this movie depicts. If you would like to read the real story of John Dillinger I recommend "John Dillinger, The Untold Story by Giradin and Helmer." It is the most accurate account of his life.

Spectacular
2009-12-10 - Ranking up there with his best works, namely Heat and Thief, Michael Mann's Public Enemies is a spectacular true crime saga, focusing on notorious bank robber John Dillinger (Johnny Depp) in the booming crime wave of the 1930s. At the behest of FBI head J. Edgar Hoover (Billy Crudup), G-man Melvin Purvis (Christian Bale) leads the charge to bring down Dillinger, no matter the cost. In the meantime, Dillinger romances the beautiful Billie Frechette (Marion Cottillard) as he moves from one big score to the next, all the while the cat & mouse game between him and Purvis continues to escalate. Shot on HD video, Public Enemies at times looks both spectacular and just plain blurry, but from a technical standpoint otherwise, the film is wonderful. On the acting side of things, Depp, Bale, and Cottillard are spectacular; while Mann manages to assemble a cast that also includes Stephen Graham as Baby Face Nelson, Stephen Dorff, Giovanni Ribisi, Stephen Lang, David Wenham, John Ortiz, Brotherhood's Jason Clarke, Rory Cochrane, Emile de Ravin, Leelee Sobieski, and Channing Tatum in a blink and you'll miss him turn as Pretty Boy Floyd. Though there are numerous liberties taken with the historical accuracies of the events, Public Enemies regardless ends up turning out being a purely entertaining blast that fires on all cylinders. All in all, Public Enemies ranks high on the list of Michael Mann's best films, and that in itself makes the film a worthwhile experience.

Far from a Mann masterpiece
2009-12-10 - The topic of the public enemy era of the 1930s is a rather expansive one with several complex personalities on both sides of the law and criminality. Very few films have properly portrayed these complexities while others have not even come close. Michael Mann's Public Enemies is not a masterpiece in terms of the crime films on the public enemy era or worthy of his own standard set by his masterpieces Heat (1995) or Collateral (2004). 1987's The Untouchables similarly tackled the criminal era of Al Capone but with a bad script, the hallmarks of the film rested in Sean Connery's performance and director Brian de Palme's visual finesse. Public Enemies lacks standout performances or any visual finesse that distinguishes itself from any other film. With a stellar cast and a formidable director, Public Enemies emerges as a great disappointment in line with Mann's previous debacle Miami Vice (2006).

Johnny Depp portrays John Dillinger, a bank robber who during his day found the consideration of the public as a Robin Hood-esque character at a time of economic depression. Depp's performance is remarkably predictable and forced. With this character's positive perception among the public, Depp's characterization of Dillinger provides little sympathetic qualities that would endear him to the public who saw him as a robber of the wealthy whom destroyed this country with impunity while corrupt and inept politicians served it on a platter. Marion Cotillard's performance however is endearing and slightly approachable. Yet, Cotillard's appearance is not enough to salvage the wreck of disengaging personifications.

Christian Bale whose career has received a great boost in this past decade plays a still, boring and stiff Melvin Purvis similar to his lackluster John Conner in Terminator Salvation. Purvis, an FBI agent should seem like an open character or at least one that the audience can hitch their star too. Bale's Purvis and Depp's Dillinger leaves the audience with no one to root for as they both are too hallowed in characterization to result in any substance that audience can grab hold of. In 1995's Heat, Mann posed two characters to the audience. One was Vincent Hanna (Al Pacino), a dedicated detective whose whole life revolved around catching his man at the expense of family. The other was Neil McCauley (Robert De Niro), an equally dedicated man whose life was devoted to fulfilling his robbery scores at the expense of a private life. The equal devotion and discipline to their respective occupations built up a "meeting of the minds" at the unforgettable coffee shop scene. The next time these two men see each other is during a lengthy shootout outside of a bank. The scene was electrifying as the tensions of two unstoppable forces finally collided in a manner that was satisfying and attention grabbing. Bale's Purvis and Depp's Dillinger lack that tension, depth or anticipation because both characters are too plain, too obvious and too traditional to keep the attention of the audience.

More frustratingly, Billy Crudup portrays FBI director J. Edgar Hoover as a vigilant administrator hell-bent on the capture of Dillinger. However, Hoover has a much different historical consensus. J. Edgar Hoover was a corrupt, exploitive and self-obsessed man who remained FBI director for 37 years by threatening Presidents with damaging documents for re-nomination. He only faced opposition from Robert Kennedy who during his tenure as Attorney General prevented Hoover from leaking documents about John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King. Interestingly enough, Robert Kennedy was assassinated while running for President. Hoover knew that RFK's ascension to the Presidency meant his early retirement therefore Richard Nixon had to be President especially since Nixon was weary of Hoover. Currently, the law prevents another Hoover legacy as a FBI director can only serve the maximum of ten years. Hoover's personal desires for media attention lead him to cornering both Melvin Purvis and Elliot Ness after their historical killing and capture of John Dillinger and Al Capone respectively. Hoover's reign as FBI director saw him embracing illegal tactics, wiretapping and surveillance. Hoover also was a rumored homosexual and cross dresser. The venomous tendency of Hoover is rarely seen in Crudup's performance. For a more accurate depiction of J. Edgar Hoover, watch Bob Hoskins's performance in Oliver Stone's Nixon (1995).

The most disappointing aspect of Public Enemies is that it does not explore the issues that fall between the lines of the 1930s or even explain why the wave of crime followed it. The film lacks an epic struggle between good and evil because those lines are not so clear yet there is no dynamic to compensate for it. Very few if any of the portrayals of the characters are interesting enough to analyze while the intrigue is completely absent from the chase. The action sequences are not mesmerizing even as Mann attempts to recreate an abbreviated 1930s version of the classic Heat (1995) shootout between Al Pacino and Robert De Niro whose characters had a rare dynamic with another making the shootout scene so powerful and satisfying. It was the forces of law and loneliness confronting the forces of crime and loneliness with the outcome being equally spellbinding as both men lost something important in their pursuit of each other. There is nothing spellbinding about the acting, action or execution of Public Enemies and like most historical film dramas; it is filled with inexcusable inaccuracies.

I believe this film like American Gangster will be snubbed by the Oscars in every category it is eligible for and for great reason.

Good Movie, Needs to check facts
2009-12-10 - Great movie - no problem there. However, besides the three or four main people, the acting was terrible.

Yes, movies can take some liberties on the truth, however SO MANY facts were just not correct (i.e. The movie has Baby Face Nelson dying AT Little Bohemia). The ORIGINAL story is so compelling, why even need to "add in" and "take away" from the truth?