Public Enemies [2009, directed by Michael Mann]
The story of the FBI’s hunt for John Dillinger.
My problem with this film is the stop-n-go narrative – the characters were mostly unsympathetic and unlikable – and no discernable theme or insight that makes you stand up and enjoy the film on anything other than a base level.
What I did like was Dillinger’s girl, Billie – she was really the only likable character and the one you wanted to see her storyline come to a satisfactory conclusion. The action and gun fights were very good – and the locations were especially nice (one of them was a block away from my grandfather’s house). Yet, a sloppy story, sloppy direction and virtually no characters to care about make me give this a generous 3 out of 5.
Man Bites Dog [1992, directed by Remy Belavaux, Andre Bonzel & Benoit Poelvoorde]
A documentary film crew follows a charismatic yet unrepentant serial killer on his murder sprees.
This film firmly evokes disgust while shining a light on how the media often will promote and somewhat glorify the villains in society. It is a very effective and thought provoking critic on how we as a society lose focus on what’s really important when it comes to violent crimes. Often the main focus is on who’s doing these crimes – the Jeffery Dahmer’s, Ted Bundy’s, Ed Gein’s all get movies/documentaries made about their exploits and their victims are footnotes just like this film. We see the killer’s crimes in this film so much – and know so much about him – yet we know nothing about the victims. I give this film a solid 4 out of 5.
I dug ENEMIES, but thought I would love it a lot more. I think the biggest thing holding it back is how subtle Depp plays the part. It seems like they only let him off the chain once or twice.
ReplyDeleteI wanted to like it more than I actually did too, Hats. You're dead right - the biggest issue was seemed to be a lack of the usual Depp charisma - there were glimpses of it - and maybe the role didn't call for it - but something to give you a side to root for/relate to would've been nice.
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