You can be a dead hero or a live coward. Get it open.

Public Enemies

(2009)

I'm a Michael Mann fan to the extent that I'd defend the Miami Vice movie, so I wasn't put off by the mostly underwhelmed reviews this got. I wasn't expecting to love it, though.

This is definitely his best work since Heat, with great performances from Depp (effortlessly charismatic to the extent that he's underplaying) and Bale (far more suited to supporting roles, like here, than leads) and great bit parts for Stephen Lang as a super cop, Billy Crudup as Hoover and Stephen Graham (as scary as you'd expect from him) as Baby Face Nelson. Marion Cotillard makes a lot out of a fairly standard part too.

I didn't see the film digitally, so I couldn't say how jarring the photography is, although it's quite evident that the visual language Mann is using is often not what you'd expect (lingering extreme close-ups for example). Some of the interiors appear to suffer, notably where Cotillard is staying, that has the feel of dodgy video. The shoot out in the woods is beautifully staged, and Elliot Goldenthal's score is superb (as is the use of Otis Taylor's Ten Million Slaves).

****1/2

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