PUBLIC ENEMIES

With a running time of almost 2 1/2 hours, Public Enemies ends up being a film that is more interesting than captivating. But Johnny Depp sure looks good in a suit and a fedora.

We all know that Johnny Depp is gorgeous. But bedeck him in a tailored 1930s indigo suit, groom his black hair to a slicked back mop, and give him a fedora? Well, rrrowwrrr! His publicity hound gangster John Dillinger would capture the public's imagination as much now as he did in the Depression-era 1930s, when he became a bank robber hero to the poor, and a rock star to the sensation-seeking media. To the F.B.I., he also became Public Enemy Number One.

Michael Mann has always been known as a director with style, from his fashion-forward TV series Miami Vice, to his more serious cinema work like The Insider and Heat. He also loves cops and robbers, so the story of John Dillinger seems like a perfect fit. Except, with a running time of almost 2 1/2 hours, Public Enemies ends up being a film that is more interesting than captivating. After investing all that time as a viewer, you still don't really know much about the characters (how is that possible?). When all is said and done, the most emotion in the film is wrung by a character with really not a lot of screen time (more on her later).

The story starts with a brazen and bloody prison break, as Dillinger breaks a bunch of his buddies out of the big house. This sets the tone for the film: No bank heist is impossible, and no prison can hold this man (which is later proven as Dillinger literally walks out of the highest security prison in Indiana with a gun made of soap). He and his henchman drive nice cars, dress in snazzy clothes, eat in nice restaurants, and half safe houses across the land.

But, see, the newly-minted F.B.I. doesn't like him, especially J. Edgar Hoover (Billy Crudup, speaking in a rat-tat-tat old-school newsreel style, a quirk that is more distracting than successful). Hoover assigns Melvin Purvis (Christian Bale) and his henchman to get Dillinger, once and for all. It is basically the government's war on terrorism, and boy, they don't want to be left red in the face by letting the bad guys get away (hmmm... timely).

In the meantime, Dillinger and his pals continue to wreak bank robbery havoc, leaving many bodies behind, but always being polite to the working man (and woman). Dillinger even finds time to pick up himself a nice girlfriend, a beautiful coat-check girl in a cheap dress named Billie Frechette (Marion Cotillard). A woman will weigh you down when a man is on the run, but he is smitten and promises her the world. In the world of gangsters, even Billie knows that such a promise carries little weight.

It is the introduction of Billie Frechette that made me figure out what was nagging me about the handsomely produced Public Enemies. Oscar-winner Marion Cotillard completely knocks this one out of the ballpark. In fact, she is so good the second she is onscreen that I realized she is the only fully-realized character (rather than caricature or sketch of a person) in the film. Just look at her face the moment that Dillinger shows up at her coat-check desk, humiliates an annoying customer, then brusquely tells her that she is now his girl, and she's coming with him. Her face goes through an amazing range of emotions: incredulity at his boldness, embarrassment at his spectacle, a bit of humiliation (knowing she has nothing to lose by walking away from her job), and more than a little fear of this man who is charming, but is totally bad news. All that in one look.

That is when I realized I was a little disappointed in this film. There is a lot to like... the risky choice to film in HD for the most part works; there is the fantastic shoot-out sequence at the Little Bohemia Lodge in the middle of the film; and the costumes and the look of the film sure is great. But it is all style, and—except for Cotillard's performance—not much substance. It left me wanting... even after 2 1/2 hours.