Public Enemies [2009] Movie Reviews on CinemaClock

First off, let me say that there were many good points to this film. The set design was beautiful, the costumes were stunning, and the acting was quite good so the blame really doesn't rest there. Cotillard, Depp, and Bale were all excellent. Billy Crudup was fantastic as Hoover. However, the poor script was a problem, as was the the horrific cinematography, and the terrible direction. Sound quality was one of the worst in a film I have seen in ages - dialogue was muddy and incoherent, and sfx were far too loud. Lines that should have been ADR'd were obviously not, and you could see evidence that Michael Mann had overridden his sound engineer during the final mix to make punches of music and specific words and adding in dead silence where music ends too abruptly before a scene change. The handheld approach to most of the filming did not suit this type of picture, and the use of HD made most of it feel grainy rather than crisp. The inconsistent use of special effects was also annoying - as rather than appear realistic the gunshot final blows conjured up images of the Terminator franchise rather than the 1930's. All in all, a terrible effort by a director obviously incapable of this sort of story-telling. And like many other reviewers, I too found it difficult to stay awake through its unedited length which plays far too long... Avoid at all costs.