"Public Enemies" Should Be Arrested

Die hard Depp fans will watch anything he is in, but those with more discriminating tastes might want to pass this one up. I eagerly awaited the release of Public Enemies, more because it was shot in Wisconsin, using the state capitol building (across from which is my office), the streets of Columbus, and the woods around Mirror Lake State Park, a favorite camping haunt of ours.

The story is, of course, a good one. Everyone wants to vicariously watch crooks and their antics, especially when they have the panache of John Dillinger. We all know the end too, but it is the journey that we want to see and the story was what I expected, knowing some of its history absorbed over a lifetime.

However, my objection to this film was director Michael Mann's use of the camera. It is de rigeur these days to use jerky camera motions for effect. We (the audience) once rejoiced at the invention of the Steadicam where a cameraman could chase the stars through alleys and over fences and make it look like a dolly shot. Now, Mann seems to intentionally revert to the herky-jerky of the old days.

Not only was most of the film shot with JerkiCam, even Norma Desmond would find the close-ups invasive. Mann shoots much of the film as if the camera is a microscope looking to find every pore on Johnny Depp's face (and he does). Closeups and jerkiness combined to make for a nice headache at the end of the 140 minute run. For me, the cinematography was distracting me from the storyline. I forget, did Dillinger still die in the end?