Public Enemies

OPENING: 07/01/2009

STUDIO: Universal

ACCOMPLICES:
Trailer, Official Site

SOUNDTRACK:

The Charge
“We’re here for the bank’s money, not yours. Put it away.”

Opening Statement
An unapologetically stiff technical masterpiece of composition and historical accuracy, Public Enemies is a surprise right out of the gate. When one considers the subject matter of Prohibition era bank robbers, Tommy guns and notorious American outlaw John Dillinger, one expects a cinematic humdinger of an action film, full of testosterone and action machismo, dramatic conflict and proper romanticizing of Dillinger as a cultural icon. Surprisingly—or perhaps not at all—we get nothing of the sort. Public Enemies is a film scrubbed so thoroughly of emotion and resonance as to be downright alien. It has no interest in observing any of the action clichés of summer blockbuster films, despite being released in the prime of summer blockbuster season.

Still, what exactly should we have expected from director Michael Mann? Consider Heat, a film that (depending on whom you ask) is either the best action film ever made, or the most colossal of bores. I lean towards the former, and I certainly appreciate Public Enemies for its numerous merits, but I have a feeling this film will be somewhat polarizing with audiences this weekend—especially those looking for a high-octane summer blockbuster.

Facts Of The case
Notorious bank robber John Dillinger (Johnny Depp) has just sprung his gang members from an Indiana state prison. It is 1933, and the world is at his fingertips. Dillinger is a cocky-yet-reserved thief who takes what he wants without hesitation, robbing bank after bank in a crime spree across Chicago and the Midwest with his longtime partner John ‘Red’ Hamilton (Jason Clarke). Dillinger le lives for the moment, having no interest in thinking about retirement or the future, aside from his interest in Billie Frechette (Marion Cotillard), a coat check girl whom he liberates and takes as his girl.

But things are changing in America. Young FBI director J. Edgar Hoover (Billy Crudup) is training a new generation of investigators in modern techniques to catch criminals and put forth legislation making certain crime fall under federal jurisdiction. Dillinger and his gang have always found safe haven with the National Crime Syndicate in Chicago, but the Syndicate begin to realize that harboring criminals-turned-celebrities like Dillinger might be more trouble than worth—especially as they find new ways to make money without robbery and violence. A hotshot agent named Melvin Purvis (Christian Bale) is called in to hunt down Dillinger at all costs.

As the glory days of criminal sprees wind down, Dillinger is forced to make desperate alliances with unfamiliar and notorious gangsters to make money, including the violently unpredictable Baby Face Nelson (Stephen Graham) and Homer Van Meter (Stephen Dorff). Branded Public Enemy #1 and with his friends in jail or dead, Dillinger seems almost oblivious to the noose tightening around his neck…

The Evidence
Public Enemies feels less like a dramatic recreation of the last few years of John Dillinger’s life, and more like a psudo-documentary, as if crews with digital cameras were sent back in time to simply record what they saw of Dillinger’s life. The attention to detail and minutia is nothing short of obsessive. Rarely does a Hollywood blockbuster adhere to historical fact as authentically as Public Enemies does, opting too often to throw caution and reality to the wind in favor of dramatic filmmaking, or to a particularly daring action sequence, or a shuffling of events to suit narrative. Here, the exact opposite is true; the film shoots in documentary-style on location whenever possible in the actual venues and locations that John Dillinger was. The infamous shootout at the Little Bohemia Lodge in Manitowish Waters, Wisconsin was re-created exactly at the same location. Actual banks Dillinger robbed are used to re-create identical robberies, and he escapes out of actual jails he escaped from. Some liberties (as always) are taken in the script, especially in killing various and notorious gangsters in view of the camera, but these are minor historical adjustments at best. The costume designs, the vintage automobiles—every detail is immaculate and perfectly realized.

Flip the coin over, and one quickly realizes that such unflinching historical accuracy and realism elements create a film so absent of Hollywood narrative, clichés and expected plot development as to be uncomfortable, like a spacious room devoid of all furniture. John Dillinger robs some banks, and then he dies. There is no greater purpose, no meaning in the action, no driving motivation behind the events—he did these things, and so Public Enemies shows him doing them. There is no rationalization or judgment behind them, no understanding of the man or his pathos. Action sequences are confused, chaotic affairs full of disorganization, screams and confusion; realistic to be sure, but far from the carefully choreographed sequences audiences expect with heroes leaping over cars firing guns akimbo.

It is possible that we may never see a movie more unsuited to be released at the height of the summer blockbuster season than Public Enemies. This is not to suggest that it is a bad film; far from it. When taken at its own merits, Mann has created a fascinating and detailed cinematic experience, a period retelling of a tumultuous era in American history with fantastic performances from cast and crew alike. But as a summer blockbuster, Public Enemies is as disinterested and cold as Dillinger (the man) reveals himself to be. At the screening I attended, there were quite a number of scattered boos echoing through the theater as the credits rolled. I overheard one person lament that they didn’t “get it”. They ask, “so he robs banks, and then he dies, and that’s it?” Yes, that’s it. Think of Public Enemies not as an action film, but a biopic; an academic retelling of key historical events in the life of a bank robber. Why does he rob banks? Even Dillinger himself seems uninterested in exploring his own motivations. No back story is offered, no childhood memory to justify his action. He is a matter-of-fact fellow, and he robs banks in a matter-of-fact sort of way. Dillinger says of himself that he likes baseball, movies, good clothes and fast cars. What else you need to know?

As an actor, Depp cuts a remarkable Dillinger, his physical resemblance to the man notwithstanding. This is a controlled and reserved performance, as simple and unpretentious a role for Depp as we have seen from him in years. Likewise for Christian Bale, who leaves his gruff bravado at the door—a refreshing break from his recent emphysemic action films. Bale cuts a dapper and suave profile as Melvin Purvis, the man out to catch Dillinger. With little character development portrayed in the film, the two embody living caricatures of actual people, and do it professionally and efficiently. Purvis does what he does because it’s his job, nothing more. We are used to seeing our characters in this role suffering obsession and anger and frustration, but none of that here; another subversion of expectation. We expect Dillinger to be something of a narcissist, but not so; he is interested in his stature as a growing celebrity, but only as a curiosity, observing with pride, but without flare or fuss. He is cool and calm and in complete control, and only begins to lose his cool when his girlfriend gets pinched. Marion Cotillard plays Dillinger’s girl, Billie Frechette, and her contribution to the film is mostly auxiliary, possessing few memorable lines and little to do in the script beyond run around and look anxious, playing her established role in the history lesson.

Beyond the primary cast, Public Enemies is crammed with dozens of secondary characters, all of various levels of interest, relevance and influence in Dillinger’s life. His gang of fellow robbers includes brief but solid performances from Stephen Dorff and Jason Clarke, and we are introduced to Purvis’ character by way of his apprehension (murder, really) of Pretty Boy Floyd (a cameo appearance by Channing Tatum). Of particular note is the casting of Stephen Graham as Baby Face Nelson; a devilishly wicked bit of casting. Graham is unhinged and raucous as Nelson, but gets little screen time.

Michael Mann has proven himself to be a filmmaker of astonishing technical prowess and craft, meticulous in design, accuracy and execution time and again, and no one will fault Public Enemies for its stylish direction, gritty cinematography and ultra-realistic action sequences. The high-definition digital film (a look familiar to fans of Collateral) seems oddly out-of-pace in a period film so meticulous in its historic accuracy and detail, but actually lends itself surprisingly well once audiences adjust to the washed-out color palate and peculiar lighting. Night sequences are particularly effective, casting trench coat thugs in shadow and swirling grain. Fans of Mann’s action work in the past will know exactly what to expect here, especially during the gunfight sequences, where proper caliber rules are observed. Handguns make small popping sounds in comparison to the Tommy gun, which unlike its “rat-a-tat-tat” characterization in films of yesteryear, is actually a loud, frightening and percussive thing that goes “KABOOM KABOOM KABOOM” and makes big holes in people. For a film with a running time of over two hours, action sequences are relatively few, but they feel well-placed and astonishingly visceral. Bullets pound into trees, and on-screen characters wince visibly with the impact and vibration. It’s all about the little details.

Dillinger in American folk culture is something of an anti-establishment folk hero, a rebel at the height of the Great Depression and takes the American Dream into dangerous and dramatic new directions, taking what he wants from the wealthy and the corrupt. He represented reckless and romantic abandon, freedom from constraints and rules. In Public Enemies, Dillinger is just a guy with a day job robbing banks. He enjoys what he does, and dresses sharp, and makes no apologies for his action, but reality lacks the same flair and charisma that American audiences have come to expect from this particular subject after years of popular culture, serialization, gangster films and word-of-mouth exaggeration.

Public Enemies is a constant subversion of expectations, replacing machismo and bravado and action sensibilities with cold authenticity and historical detail. There is little in the way of wit or humor in the film, because Dillinger was not a particularly witty or humorous person. With so few liberties taken by the screenplay, Public Enemies is boxed in by its own desire for total historical accuracy. It is not Mann’s strongest film, but it offers up a unique and unexpectedly faithful take on the American gangster mythology. Depending on your sensibilities, you will either find it refreshing, or extremely boring.

Closing Statement
Public Enemies eschews being boxed into popcorn blockbuster categorizations, yet bizarrely released at the absolute apex of audience expectations for such a film. This may be the most surprising film released this entire summer, a devious joke played by Universal upon the movie going public at large in the first week of July at a time when “subtlety” is the name of a jive-talking robot in a Michael Bay film. Oh my.

An undeniably fascinating technical and meticulous composition of historical accuracy and period drama, Public Enemies is too low-key and subtle to be categorized with Mann’s best work to-date, but if one goes in with the right expectations, the film will deliver as only his films can. Still, I fear the majority of the moviegoing public might not get the memo in time, and mistake Public Enemies for a film it is not.

The Verdict
7/10

Terminator: Salvation

OPENING: 05/21/2009

STUDIO: Warner Bros.

RUN TIME: 115 min

TRAILER: Trailer

ACCOMPLICES: Official Site

SOUNDTRACK:

The Charge
The end begins.

Opening Statement
There are many things that would seem to indicate the Terminator franchise is dying. Director James Cameron is done with the series. Star Arnold Schwarzenegger is busy serving as the Governor of California. The television series The Sarah Connor Chronicles was canceled days before this film was released in theatres. And the director of this latest picture, McG, is best known as the helmer of the kinda-terrible Charlie’s Angels movies. So does Terminator: Salvation re-energize a lackluster brand (much like the recent Star Trek film) or simply put another nail in the coffin?

Facts of the Case
The film begins in the year 2018. Human resistance forces are at war with a super-intelligent organized network of deadly machines, also known as Skynet. At the moment, the humans appear to be losing the war. They are outnumbered and outmatched by their ferocious metal enemies. Even so, resistance leader John Connor (Christian Bale) does not give up hope. He believes with enough resolve and resourcefulness, the war can be won. Also playing key roles in the resistance are an ex-convict named Marcus Wright (Sam Worthington) and an intelligent soldier named Kyle Reese (Anton Yelchin). Can these men save what is left of humanity, or will Earth soon be ruled by Skynet?

The Evidence
Let’s start by focusing on the positive. Terminator: Salvation is a slick, professionally-crafted adventure that provides all of the adrenaline-filled action sequences and lavish special effects that one expects from a summer blockbuster. The film also wins points for not being entirely stupid. There are a lot of things that blow up in this film, but as explosion-filled films go, this one is reasonably realistic and well-organized. The continuity and plotting are fairly tight, the technical aspects are impressive, and most of the new machines seem to fit reasonably well within the established Terminator universe. There’s just one major problem: I didn’t care about anything.

The first two Terminator films are tremendously well-made action movies, but they are action movies with a soul. I cared a great deal about Sarah Connor, her son John Connor, and Arnold’s monotone robotic killer. I was interested in them, I liked them, and the first time I saw those films I invested genuine emotion in the fates of those characters. I wanted to see Sarah live and Arnold die in the first film. I wanted John and Arnold survive in the second film. But watching Terminator: Salvation, I simply didn’t care. I didn’t care about John or Marcus or Kyle. I didn’t hate any of the machines enough to yearn for their destruction, but it didn’t matter to me who won the war. It’s a soulless exercise in action that can’t manage to present a better excuse for its existence than the obvious desire to milk whatever money is left in the Terminator brand.

The film honestly doesn’t feel much like Terminator movie, coming closer to resembling a mash-up of The Road Warrior and Transformers. Whatever the unique aura Cameron had created in the first two films was missing in the third installment, and it’s definitely missing here. It should be noted this is the first Terminator film to be rated PG-13. If you’re wondering why, just take a visit to the toy section of your local Wal-Mart and see for yourself. I did just that a couple of hours before seeing the film, and it really felt wrong to see Terminator action figures sitting on the shelf next to figures based on Batman: The Brave and the Bold. The rating forces a somewhat non-threatening quality on some of the action scenes, and unintentional laughs during moments that require mud or smoke to blur body parts which dangled freely in earlier installments.

The performances here represent a large part of why the film didn’t work. I’m a huge fan of Christian Bale (I even think his much-maligned Batman/Bruce Wayne is awesome), but this is easily the least interesting performance I’ve ever seen from the actor. He growls and shouts a lot, but there isn’t anything that allows me to connect to him in any way. The performances from Sam Worthington and Anton Yelchin are similarly gruff and underwhelming. Yelchin seems to be failing miserably at doing a Michael Madsen impression, while Worthington comes across as a second-rate Russell Crowe. To be fair, the latter is given a somewhat touching subplot that came close to involving me in the movie a couple of times, but alas, it just wasn’t enough. Character actor Michael Ironside plays the 1,293,392nd military commander role of his career, and does the same thing he usually does, well enough. The females arguably fare even worse. Moon Bloodgood (Blair) and Bryce Dallas Howard (Kate) have absolutely nothing interesting to do, while Jane Alexander (Virginia) and Helena Bonham Carter (Dr. Kogan) give terrible performances in brief, poorly-conceived supporting roles.

The lackluster acting is backed up by a similarly lackluster score from Danny Elfman, a composer I generally love. Elfman chose not to employ the famous Brad Fiedel theme (other than briefly using the rhythm portion during the opening and closing moments), a decision which only furthers the feeling that this isn’t a Terminator film. Say what you want about the previous scores by Fiedel and Marco Beltrami, at least they each had a distinct identity. This one just offers a lot of rehashed motifs and rhythmic devices from Elfman’s score for the Planet of the Apes remake.

Terminator: Salvation also seems to be designed strictly for those who have actually seen the previous three films. Newcomers to the franchise may find themselves lost in a hazy sea of futuristic techno-jargon and some slightly odd mumbo-jumbo about Kyle Reese being John Connor’s father despite being younger than Connor. The film begins and ends in the middle of a raging war, offering very little in the way of a proper introduction and not much of a satisfactory resolution. It’s just a slice of action seemingly ripped out of the mid-section of a vast story that evidently has more interesting things happening on either side of it.

Closing Statement
On a purely technical level, Terminator: Salvation gets the job done. It’s a considerably more well-oiled machine than X-Men Origins: Wolverine. But at least Wolverine had characters that interested me. This feels like it was made by a machine attempting to mimic the sort of action movie humans like. It gets the nuts and bolts right, but has no heart or soul. Ctrl+Alt+Delete – End Terminator Program.

The Verdict
4/10

Approximately nine months ago, my wife brought up an interesting proposal: “Why Don’t We Go to San Diego for Comic Con?” This was without virtually any prompting on my part; I had no horse in the race, so to speak. I’m not that big of a comic book fan, but we were looking for something to do. So why not go, right? And if you’re going to go, go in style; I booked a room at the newly opened Hard Rock Hotel in San Diego, which seemed like a pretty cool status symbol. Aside from an experience at the franchise’s New York restaurant years ago, I did forget that the Hard Rock plays music. All the time. But, compared to other places, it was rock music. The merchandise shop played Black Flag in there, so booyah bitches!

Anyway, the film lineup was pretty good, and I’ll be sharing those here after the jump of the films I managed to sit in on. I’m sure the webs have the footage somewhere, so feel free to search on your own time. On with the opinions!

The Day The Earth Stood Still: Fox was the first to the show, and Keanu Reeves (The Matrix), Jennifer Connelly (A Beautiful Mind) and Scott Derrickson (The Exorcism of Emily Rose) came out to pimp the remake of the 1951 classic to be released in December. It was discussed, sometimes at great length, with a couple of shots from the film, and an extended trailer. No, we didn’t get to see Gort, but WETA is doing the work on him now, and things are still very close to the vest. Aside from Connelly being VERY much out of place, barely talking, I’d come in fresh to this, and personally am still wondering why it’s being remade to begin with.

Max Payne: Mark Wahlberg (The Departed), Mila Kunis (Forgetting Sarah Marshall), Chris Bridges (a.k.a., the artist formerly known as Ludacris) and John Moore (The Omen) discuss the film which is coming out in October. Wahlberg clearly had fun and played up to the crowd, and everyone talked about how fun it was to do it, meaning how cool it was to fire weapons all day. Moore talked about their own little version of “bullet time” that was employed for the film. Aside from an extended trailer cut to a live version of Led Zeppelin’s “Whole Lotta Love,” this was a bit of a yawner.

Wolverine: Ole Wolverine himself Hugh Jackman came onstage as an unannounced surprise to throngs of delirious hysterics. After shaking the hand of Len Wein, the creator of the comic book icon, Jackman was happy to finally actually be onstage, as he’d apparently missed the X-Men presentations that occurred in previous Cons.  I’m going to rattle off the cast here; Ryan Reynolds (The Nines) as Deadpool, Liev Schreiber (The Sum of All Fears) as Sabretooth, Tim Riggins from Friday Night Lights as Gambit, to name a few who appear in the trailer. And it’s loaded with action too, which doesn’t hurt. Definitely the one people will be looking forward to in ‘09, unless the GI Joe teaser comes strong.

As a side note; what was particularly interesting about the Fox presentation was that a lot, and I mean A LOT of people got in early so they could be ready for Summit Pictures’ presentation of Twilight. Everyone around my wife and I was there in their “Team Edward” and “Team Jacob” shirts, whatever that means, but unfortunately I was called away for other events. I’m told though that the Twilight footage was essentially an extended version of the second trailer with the climatic ballet room sequence, and everyone ate it up. As they should I suppose. But I thought it was a little funny that the Fox gang seemed to trot out their products to hordes of Twilight fans, without knowing what they were getting into. Back to your regularly scheduled programming.

Watchmen: Try as I might to stay away from the masses, I snuck in for a second, where Zack Snyder (300) and the cast were discussing the film. Aside from an extended trailer, more shots of the heroes were shown which really illustrated Snyder’s vision and faithfulness to the source material, and since this is being released in March, expect some more mad money on a Snyder production.

The Spirit: Frank Miller (Sin City) might be an influential comic book figure, but he needs to lay off the liquor or something. At times he seemed to ramble, and cast members Samuel L. Jackson (Pulp Fiction) and Jaime King (Blow) seemed to notice. Still though, the footage that was shown of the film looks good, done visually much in the same way that Sin City was. While there’s humor, there are also a couple of required action sequences that look impressive as well. A concern I have a little with this film is that it might not seem to possess the spark of similar comic book films that possess a similar visual style, but I hope I’m proved wrong in this because at least from what I saw, The Spirit could potentially be a good film.

Zack and Miri Make a Porno: Showed up a little late to the game on this one, as I was drinking with some of the cast of ABC Family’s Samurai Girl, which appears to be a Buffy-ish show, except without some of the wit and wisdom. But I will say this about Kevin Smith, he’s got some fans in the biz, for sure, and now in this film, he’s got a couple members of the Judd Apatow stock company in Seth Rogen (Knocked Up) and Justin Long (Accepted) together in this film that looks pretty funny. Bonus points for Long’s, er, “moment” with Brandon Routh. Yes, that Brandon Routh, from Superman Returns. Aside from listening to Rogen’s kind of funny Ian McKellen joke and Jason Mewes looking very impressive all cleaned up from addiction, Zack and Miri comes out in October hopefully, and should be worth the hubbub, even if they might have to change the title.

Terminator Salvation: You know, Christian Bale and Bryce Dallas Howard(?) aside, McG seems to carry himself as a bit of a pompous arse. Why exactly would we want to see a film about a battle with first-generation terminator robots? Why would Arnold Schwarzenegger even consider appearing in this? Ugh. To be fair, McG (Charlie’s Angels) likes paying homage to the previous three films, even including attendees who dressed like Robert Patrick and Linda Hamilton from T2 on stage with him, along with an Asian kid whose Arnold accent seemed to venture into Walken-esque territory. He showed an extended teaser of sorts, without any CG shots in it, and the results? Meh. I counted nods to The Road Warrior and The Great Escape in there, along with something that looked visually a little like Charlie’s Angels, right now to the hot chick almost taking her top off. I’ve got to say I liked the teaser in front of Dark Knight more than I did this stuff, and unlike some of the buzz so far, am concerned that this “reboot” might nuke the franchise from orbit.

Pineapple Express: Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to sneak into the preview screenings that apparently were going on in town, and the footage that Judd Apatow (40 Year Old Virgin), Rogen and gang brought seemed a little to be desired. It seemed like they basically brought stuff from the website or something. One of the scenes came from the Superbad DVD. But come on, you know what this film is going to be about, you’re either going to go see it or you’re not. Oh, and Green Hornet is still on the track of getting made, so yay to that.

Well, that’s the short story on the film side. A quick note on things to come, expect a review of Tropic Thunder in the very near future, along with TV Verdict thoughts from the Heroes and Lost panels, including some teasing of Heroes 3^rd season, as the opener was aired in its entirely exclusively for the Comic Con folks. Until next time, get the funk out your minds and into your hearts people!