Beaks here...

Universal and Michael Mann were at it again Thursday night, testing his John Dillinger v. Melvin Purvis epic PUBLIC ENEMIES. We've received numerous reviews from previous screenings, and the response has been fairly consistently all over the fucking map. "It's a masterpiece!" "It's a piece of shit!" "It's pretty good!" "It's disappointing!" There is no consensus - which leads me to believe that Mann has made another MIAMI VICE.

And that's fine with me. You, however, may disagree. Vehemently. Let's see what Mr. Paisley thought...

Had the chance to see a very early screening of Michael Mann’s Public Enemies tonight and wanted to share some thoughts with you all. A few spoilers here so tread with caution.

First off, it’s incredibly entertaining. Unlike other biopics, this one drops you right into story. No flashbacks of Johnny Dillinger extorting kids on the playground, the movie begins with Johnny Depp’s Dillinger and his crew knocking over a bank with precision and style. On the other side of the law, Christian Bale’s G-Man Purvis starts the movie hunting down Pretty Boy Floyd. It’s an interesting and welcome approach. Here’s a cop, here’s a robber. Go.

Along the way, Dillinger picks up a girlfriend (the beautiful Marion Cotillard) and Purvis is appointed the head of the task force by J Edgar Hoover (a more clothed, and less blue Billy Crudup.) The next two plus hours is basically focused on Dillinger and how he made his name. As I mentioned, I found it very entertaining. In typical Michael Mann fashion, bullets are never in short supply. The action sequences are sharp, frenetic and well paced. (Another kudo to the sound design. The tommy guns blast with brilliance all movie long.) If I have any complaints, I’d say the movie is a little overly balanced toward Depp and Dillinger. You don’t get much story or time with Christian Bale. He dutifully plays the straight man on the trail of the charismatic bank robber, but there’s not a lot of meat to his character. It’s mostly meetings with other cops talking about how dangerous Dillinger is. Same with Cotillard. Her Billie Frechette is pretty and strong, but there’s not much of her. (Although Dillinger’s wooing of her at a coat check is note perfect.) I’d say the other 70% of the movie is Dillinger robbing, shooting, and charming his way across Iowa and Illinois.

I’m not sure if this was the first time the movie has been shown, but I did see Michael Mann afterwards. It looked like they were going to speak to some of the moviegoers in a focus group. The movie looks finished. Very few, if any, technical cleanup to be done. It looks like the movie was shot on digital again. It’s interesting to see that era so cleanly. Anyway, the crowd seemed to like it. There was enthusiastic clapping at the end and people outside were talking about how much they liked it. I hope the focus group doesn’t fuck with it too much. It’s a really good movie. The three leads are all solid and the story and action are both well balanced. Fans of Mann, Depp and Bale should all be pleased when this rolls out this summer.

With bullets flying,
Mr. Paisley

Awesome. I'm there. Now here's The Dark Mike with some harsh words for Mann's gangster flick...

I saw Public Enemies tonight, and it seemed like I was the only one
who wouldn't lay down and suck some Mann balls. Here's the truth....

I love Michael Mann. Tonight, I've questioned that love.

Burbank. 7:00pm.

We're cattle driven into a giant stadium. They won't tell us the
name of the film, but they will tell us we're one of the first
audiences to see it...oh, and it's based on the life of John
Dillinger. "Yes!" I shouted, I love Eddie Murphy movies! "No
Mike," my friend whispered. "It's Public Enemies."

Let's jump to the good stuff. Scroll no more.

Since I saw the trailer for this film, there's definitely been
something bothering me about the digital motion in some shots. It
blurs, there's artifacting....it ain't good. I hoped it would look
better. Kinda like The Godfather. But now that I've seen it I can
tell you it DOES look like The Godfather....a Be Kind Rewind version!

Alot of the shots are poorly lit (this was before a final color
correction, I'm looking forward to seeing how computers can save
this). But what became more problematic than the camera, was the
camera's unbearable closeness to all it's subjects. It's like the
studio forced Mann to make this movie iPhone friendly....you know, so
we could see Johnny's big beautiful face on a 2.5 inch screen. But
in the theater, it's a mess. Too dark....no sense of geography.

I'm a film student. I've studied cinema from Edison to Aronofsky and
when I got home, I couldn't really tell my roomates what it was
about. I mean, I understood it....I just don't know what they were
thinking. What were they trying to do here? The depression is
touched on lightly, but we never get a sense that the man has an
effect on the American people. We're told this, but we do not feel
this.

It seems the major flaw is that this movie should either be a story
about Dillinger and his lover Billie (though I can't understand why
they love eachother), or a cat and mouse between Batman and that kid
from Nightmare on Elmstreet. Right now it's both and it's boring as
fuck. The middle of the film has little cause and effect, and in the
end I was left with a limp dick in my lap wishing I hadn't wasted my
time on a FREE movie, three months before it's release, starring two
of Hollywood's biggest stars.

This movie was a disappointment. Yep, I'll just go and say that flat
out. I'm that certain. This is an early cut...doesn't mean the
movie's going to suck as much as the shit sandwich Michael Mann
cooked me tonight.

This isn't to say the film can't be saved. Hollywood's make of
dreams, but tonight I experienced a nightmare.

With love,
THE DARK MIKE

The close-ups are nothing new. Mann's never been shy about getting in tight on his actors. And, hard as it may be to accept, the artifacting is just something Mann obviously likes. It started with ALI and has stuck around since he made the permanent switch to digital with ROBBERY HOMICIDE DIVISION. Either you like it or you don't.

You'll find out for yourself on July 1, 2009.