Thoughts on Public Enemies.
Yesss... finally caught this much-anticipated movie ( 1.5 years wait after Sweeney Todd ) yesterday evening :) This movie surpassed my expectation, unexpectedly. I wasn't expecting much after reading mixed critics' reviews on rottentomatoes.com. ( It was 65% fresh, not good enough for me )
What I do like about this movie is that... their lines were short and sweet, to the point and with a sense of humour ( that doesn't seem forced ). I like short and sweet lines... with the camera focusing on the facial expressions and just let the cast do the acting, not the talking... Public Enemies has alot of such close-up scenes which I like. The acting from the cast was good even though there was actually not much character development with half of the plot dedicated to plain action scenes... but at least good acting makes you believe in the characters, keeps you engaged in the story development. The climax of the movie is in the ending, during the last 10-15mins when the police set up the ambush outside the theatre. If only the rest of the movie was as intense as the last 10-15 mins, this film would be great and not just good.
If the action scenes failed to impress me, then I think the romance theme in the movie did the job. For the first time or one of the rare times, a female lead (with rather limited onscreen appearances) in a movie full of men doesn't just seem like an extra beautiful vase aka 花瓶。Oscar winner Marion Cotillard is not only a pleasure to look at... she did the 画龙点睛 effect and not the 画蛇添足 ones given by those 花瓶... haha. The chemistry between John Dillinger and Billie Frechette ( played by Johnny Depp and Marion Cotillard ) was rather good....considered they only shared so little screen time together before their separation.
Dillinger: " You are with me now."
Billie : " But I don't know anything about you! "
Dillinger: " I was raised on a farm in Morrisville, Indiana. My mama ran out on us when I was three, my daddy beat the hell out of me cause he didn't know no better way to raise me. I like baseball, movies, good clothes, fast cars, whiskey, and you... what else you need to know?
That was a very charming pick-up line, I feel. Well, not that I would fall for such pick-up line... hahaha ( well, you never know actually...hahaha!) but I can understand why Billie Frechette made that choice to go with Dillinger, a man whom she just met. Being an outsider, she had got nothing to lose, I guess.
I like the brutal interrogation scenes too....because they made an impact. The part when Billie said, " I can't stand up..." That was heartwrenching.
Christian Bale as the FBI agent, Melvin Purvis, who went after Dillinger had some interesting lines too.
"Sooner or later, she will go to him or he's gonna come for her..."
"He's out there. Could be anywhere. But he's not anywhere, because what he wants is right here."
These lines foreshadow the ending. Melvin knew Dillinger all too well. A man who couldn't let go of his love interest will walk into the trap someday.
And yea, the last 10-15 mins of the movie was well done. The last few moments before Dillinger's death, the part when he sat in the theatre watching a movie which ironically reflected his own life... through his close-up facial expression, you could see that he knew what his fate as a criminal would be... and he's prepared for it... ... that's probably why he didn't make plans...and chose to live in the moment. And it grew sadder from there...
The last bit with the message " bye bye blackbird " ...
that part blew me away.
The last thing that went through a dying man's mind,
was the first time he met his lover...
the first song which they danced to...
It's a beautiful notion.
**** May contain spoilers, especially towards the end ****
Being a 'gangster' film, I was not impressed by the prison breaks, bank robberies, major shootouts and gunfire. Those scenes were not as exciting as I have hoped they would be. Most of the time, they were shot using hand-held cameras... to give audience the experience of being there, at the moment witnessing the situations. But I don't think they work for me... the camera was too shaky at times such that it became more of a distraction. I had a hard and busy time identifying who was who... the camera shots changed too fast for me to register their looks and names ( other gang members etc. ), besides the obvious leads. And fast doesn't mean it's exciting... it's just kind of confusing to me.
What I do like about this movie is that... their lines were short and sweet, to the point and with a sense of humour ( that doesn't seem forced ). I like short and sweet lines... with the camera focusing on the facial expressions and just let the cast do the acting, not the talking... Public Enemies has alot of such close-up scenes which I like. The acting from the cast was good even though there was actually not much character development with half of the plot dedicated to plain action scenes... but at least good acting makes you believe in the characters, keeps you engaged in the story development. The climax of the movie is in the ending, during the last 10-15mins when the police set up the ambush outside the theatre. If only the rest of the movie was as intense as the last 10-15 mins, this film would be great and not just good.
If the action scenes failed to impress me, then I think the romance theme in the movie did the job. For the first time or one of the rare times, a female lead (with rather limited onscreen appearances) in a movie full of men doesn't just seem like an extra beautiful vase aka 花瓶。Oscar winner Marion Cotillard is not only a pleasure to look at... she did the 画龙点睛 effect and not the 画蛇添足 ones given by those 花瓶... haha. The chemistry between John Dillinger and Billie Frechette ( played by Johnny Depp and Marion Cotillard ) was rather good....considered they only shared so little screen time together before their separation.
Dillinger: " You are with me now."
Billie : " But I don't know anything about you! "
Dillinger: " I was raised on a farm in Morrisville, Indiana. My mama ran out on us when I was three, my daddy beat the hell out of me cause he didn't know no better way to raise me. I like baseball, movies, good clothes, fast cars, whiskey, and you... what else you need to know?
That was a very charming pick-up line, I feel. Well, not that I would fall for such pick-up line... hahaha ( well, you never know actually...hahaha!) but I can understand why Billie Frechette made that choice to go with Dillinger, a man whom she just met. Being an outsider, she had got nothing to lose, I guess.
I like the brutal interrogation scenes too....because they made an impact. The part when Billie said, " I can't stand up..." That was heartwrenching.
Christian Bale as the FBI agent, Melvin Purvis, who went after Dillinger had some interesting lines too.
"Sooner or later, she will go to him or he's gonna come for her..."
"He's out there. Could be anywhere. But he's not anywhere, because what he wants is right here."
These lines foreshadow the ending. Melvin knew Dillinger all too well. A man who couldn't let go of his love interest will walk into the trap someday.
And yea, the last 10-15 mins of the movie was well done. The last few moments before Dillinger's death, the part when he sat in the theatre watching a movie which ironically reflected his own life... through his close-up facial expression, you could see that he knew what his fate as a criminal would be... and he's prepared for it... ... that's probably why he didn't make plans...and chose to live in the moment. And it grew sadder from there...
The last bit with the message " bye bye blackbird " ...
that part blew me away.
The last thing that went through a dying man's mind,
was the first time he met his lover...
the first song which they danced to...
It's a beautiful notion.