There's no doubt that a wealth of research and work has gone into creating the 1930s gangster film Public Enemies.
The attention to detail - from the cars to the clothes to the houses to the streets - is exceptional. It's just unfortunate that same depth and attention to detail wasn't lavished on the story and the characters.
While Public Enemies, the story of bank robber John Dillinger, promises so much, you leave the cinema feeling somewhat empty because beyond that pretty facade lurks ... well, not much.
Which is quite a shock for a film directed by Michael Mann and starring Johnny Depp. Mann's directorial efforts include Heat, The Insider, Ali, Collateral; all superb films others would kill to have on their resume.
And Depp's acting ability in a wide range of genres is well known.
But neither of them shine in Public Enemies, which is based on the comprehensive book of the same name by Bryan Burroughs.
The book covers the crime wave in the United States of Dillinger contemporaries like Baby Face Nelson, Pretty Boy Floyd, Ma Barker and Bonnie and Clyde. The film, on the other hand, reduces the first to a minor role, the second to a brief cameo at the beginning and the last two don't even rate a mention (though Alvin Karpis, the brains of the Barker gang makes a few brief appearances).
That streamlining of the film to focus on Dillinger is understandable. This is a movie not a documentary and trying to tell all those other people's stories would be far too confusing.
Also, Dillinger, who quickly became a folk hero, has the best story of all of them. It's just a pity this film doesn't do that justice.
Depp's modern-day cool is out of place in a 1930s character and he doesn't seem to be able to work out if he wants to play the bank robber as a charmer or a villain.
The result? He just bores us - we don't like his Dillinger enough to cheer for him nor hate him enough to wish the cops catch him.
Equally dull is Bale as FBI agent Melvin Purvis. No matter what the role, Bale always plays it the same deadly serious way. He's sullen, he's moody, he's intense and, like Depp, doesn't give us a way to get inside and understand his character.
As for director Mann, he has made a film that looks good with those meticulous sets and camera angles that hove close to the actors (though I could have done without the nausea-inducing handheld shots). But it aches for something interesting to happen.
It's no surprise that a gunfight between the FBI and Dillinger and Baby Face Nelson is fantastic.
It's just about the only excitement in what is nearly a 2.5-hour film.
The other thing to get excited about is Cotillard as Dillinger's girlfriend Billie Frechette. She gives her character a warmth and depth that is otherwise missing from Public Enemies - though she can't make us understand why Billie falls for Dillinger. But that is more the fault of an unimpressive Depp than hers.
The final scene, where she is visited by an FBI agent with a message for her after Dillinger's death, is far and away the most emotional in the film. Yet you can't help but wonder where this has been for the rest of the film.
While Depp and Bale are being underwhelming, Cotillard and the supporting cast steal the show. James Russo is striking as gang member Walter Dietrich, Peter Gerety has fun as Dillinger's lawyer Louis Piquett, Steven Graham shines as the psychopath Baby Face Nelson and Billy Crudup is fantastic as J Edgar Hoover.
The characters of Purvis and Hoover share a few scenes, which is bad news for Bale because Crudup totally out-acts him every time.
PUBLIC ENEMIES (MA)
Stars: Johnny Depp, Christian Bale, Marion Cotillard
Director: Michael Mann
Screening at Greater Union Wollongong and Shellharbour, Hoyts Warrawong, Roxy Nowra
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