Public Enemies

I really don’t know all that much about John Dillinger, so I can’t vouch for this historical accuracy of this film. I can however vouch for the timeline accuracy of this film as it took place real-time throughout 1933. Yes, it felt like I was sitting in the theater for an entire year. The film had significant downsides: 1) you can’t understand/hear some of the dialogue 2) the sheer length of the film 3) the feeling that the film lasts way longer than the actual length of time you’re sitting there 4) the camera work seemed like film school stuff – lots of fast panning from character to character and handheld stuff for no reason 5) the post production of this film went from Hollywood polish to 8mm grainy to digital youtube jumpiness. Really distracting. The upsides: 1) Lots and Lots and Lots and Lots of bullets 2) I love Johnnny Depp, even when he doesn’t play a drunken pirate with teh ghey 3) Leelee Sobieski (to whom I would do dirty dirty things). As you can see, the bad outweighs the good by a mile. So if you like Spartacus-length films with lots of shooting and Leelee Sobieski, block off a full day and go see this film. Otherwise, catch an hour documentary on A&E and pretend there’s a ghey pirate playing Dillinger.