I had a date with my dad tonight. We went to go see Public Enemies.
Amazing.
I knew the acting would be great (Um, hello? Depp and Bale? Add in a little DiCaprio, whom I saw in a GREAT teaser for his next movie, Shutter Island, and the night’s perfect!), knew the story would be great (a bank robber, 1930s Depression-era Chicago, the newly formed FBI), so I went into the movie expecting a good movie.
Michael Mann (Collateral, The Insider, The Last of the Mohicans) more than delivered. I agree completely with Roger Ebert’s review of the film (read it here). Mann is a compelling visual director and I know I’ll be haunted for a while by his visual commentary.
And the sound! The sound editing and mixing was perfect. Compared to “assault and permanently damage all senses and sensibilites” Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, Enemies was subtle, surprising, quiet, and authentic. Guns sounded like guns with a quick “pop pop pop” for the machine gun, an earth-shattering “boom” for the shotgun – never once was the Hollywood gun heard.
Only once during the film did I think, “Of course he’ll get him – he’s Batman!”
Johnny Depp as Johnny Dillinger in "Public Enemies"
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