Released July 1, 2009
So it appears that the summer movie season is officially upon us. It's a time of year that I usually venture into with trepidation. It seems like Hollywood is always very hit or miss once the days get longer and warmer. Sometimes you get lucky and a movie like The Dark Knight comes along and sometimes you get The Taking of Pelham 123. Either way - you never know whats going to happen. With that in mind, I went to see Johnny Depp's latest, Public Enemies, which is a true story that focuses on the last year of bank robber, John Dillinger's life.
I didn't know exactly what to expect going into this movie. I knew that there would be some good 1930's-esque action which there was. And I knew that there would be some great acting from Johnny Depp, and he didn't disappoint. However, if you're looking for a good action movie with wall-to-wall heart stopping action this isn't the movie for you. Granted the action scenes in the movie were really well done and the sound editing really pulled you into the moment, unfortunately they were too few and far between. What you have left over is a very slow paced movie in between with few flashes of acting brilliance from Depp and Academy Award winner Marion Cotillard (who plays Dillinger's girlfriend, Billie Frechette). Christian Bale wasn't half bad either, although his role in the movie isn't very big. The supporting cast in this movie overall was very strong.
My recommendation would be to wait it out and rent this one when it comes out on DVD, unless you're a die-hard Depp fan and just have to see him on the big screen. Overall Public Enemies is a decent film, but I think it would have been better served starting earlier in Dillinger's life, perhaps give us some back story as to how he became a bank robber. This would have allowed for more action scenes as well which would have helped the movie move along a little faster.
2.5 out of 4
(Review by Chris)
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