As this long weekend winds down, hopefully many of you have had a chance to see Michael Mann's Public Enemies. Whether you liked it or not — and reviews have been decidedly mixed — everyone seems to have an opinion on the extremely limited interaction between stars Johnny Depp and Christian Bale. Like Heat and American Gangster before it, once again we've got a film that promises two of today's hottest actors, yet barely delivers five minutes of shared screen time.
Personally, it didn't bother me in this case, because I was totally engrossed with Depp's portrayal of John Dillinger. But if I had showed up looking to see Bale and Depp going head-to-head, I would have been severely disappointed. How about you, PopWatchers? Were you looking for more? Or were Mann's stylized filmmaking and the pair's strong — if separate — performances satisfying enough? We'd love to hear your thoughts.
It didn’t bother me but only because I was so frustrated with the fact that the movie never even tried to make me care about either character. I never got to know Dillinger or Purvis even though I spent two-and-a-half hours with them. The only things I’ll remember about the movie are the horrible editing, the cool HD digital cinematography, and the really sharp costumes.
I gave the movie a B, and I liked Depp for the first time in a long time — esp. since he didn’t wear that silly costume makeup…he looked like a normal guy.
It didn’t bother me that the two didn’t have much interaction; however, Bale didn’t give that strong a performance IMO. It could have been played by any B actor.
I loved the film. I actually went home and read everything I could on Dillinger, Frichette and Purvis. It really didn’t bother me that Bale and Depp had only five minutes on screen together. I thought the film was beautiful and worth another viewing!
It would not have made sense for Bale and Depp to have a many scenes together. Purvis wanted Dillinger dead and Dillinger wanted to be in South America to wait for Billie. The scene in the jail cell was perfect. BTW, the movie was awesome Mann film. The character development was there just not spoon fed. This was not suppose to be a bio pic of Dillinger. The movie starts in 1933 and Dillinger had only been out of prison for a few weeks after serving 9 yrs. This movie focused on him because he was an icon and when he died so did that era of the golden age of bank robberies.
Oh thanks bnihi, I was looking for a review of the movie, and came across your intriguing post on richflirts… What an original idea, posting your spam adds in the comments of ew, boy I’m sure everyone will want to find a rich flirt through your site now. Lol, do you even make money peddling that garbage? Just pathetic dude (or dudette).
It would have not made any sense for them to have any more screen time. It was probably a good thing too because Bale’s performance was very flat….anyone could have played it like that. Had there been more scenes together, it would have been a real embarassment for Bale. Depp is probably the best actor of our generation. I don’t think anyone is as good as he is.
I liked the film but thought it would be better. Some people are saying it wouldn’t make sense to have Bale and Depp together more. I agree. But if you say that wouldn’t make sense then you would have to agree that killing Baby Face Nelson and Homer Van Meter at little bohemia didn’t make sense since they escaped that attack and died later. Van Meter died after Dillanger. The strange thing about Nelson, real name Lester Gillis, he was a killer. He would kill citizens and cops without even thinking about it. But he loved his wife and child and he traveled with them during his crime wave. His wife was arrested shortly after he was killed. After Dillinger was killed, Hoover made Nelson Public Enemy #1. Nelson was killed at the battle of Barrington. Both Nelson and Van Meter were killed after Dillinger. Historically speaking a lot of things didin’t make sense in this movie. But it’s a movie not real life, so they can change whatever they want. They didn’t even mention Dillinger’s wife.
I thought the movie was just ok. I was looking for more of something. It was under-developed in many areas, lot of promise but overall it fell short of delivering greatness.
Go to Youtube and watch
LITTLE MONKEY BOY CLIMBING
such an adorable video!!!
I don’t think it matters that their was little interaction between them… the only time I even thought about the topic was when I was reading reviews. The movie is not about their relationship… its not a people pleasing type of movie… it preserves the original story, which makes it great!
I don’t think it matters that their was little interaction between Johnny Depp and Christian Bale. I mean it’s great that the cast filled with wonderful actors, but I’m glad Michael Mann didn’t turn this into a ‘people pleasing’ movie, he preserved the original story, which I think really contributed to making this movie so great!
Michael Mann played fast and loose with the timeline and I’m not sure why. Although I liked the film and the performances of Depp, Cotillard, and Stephen Lang, I kept thinking that it could have been a better film if it had more heart. Classic example of style over substance.
Doesn’t matter that they didn’t share any screen time. What surprised me even more is how little screen time Depp and Cotillard shared. Wasn’t this movie previewed as their relationship. Very little character development in this movie, was half of the movie left on the cutting room floor in favor of the gunfights, which weren’t that exiciting either.
My grown children didn’t like the movie because it was ‘predictable’. I loved it because it was heartbreaking. Johnny Depp is the actor of our generation. The whole point of the character was his inability to connect because of how damaged he was so his relationship with Billie was clearly exactly told the right way. If you want a shoot-em-up, look at a John Wayne movie.
Depp did an amazing portrayal and I was blown away. I like how Depp and Bale had somewhat separate storylines until the end. I found it a nice climax.