Emilie de Ravin

If your a Johnny Depp fan than you must watch this movie. Depp once again make movie magic with his protrayal of Dillinger.

Public Enemies is a solid, convincing film about the exploits of John Dillinger, and the team of investigators tasked with apprehending the infamous bank robber. Director Michael Mann has crafted a great thick atmosphere around the events of Dillinger?s exploits and his eventual down fall. Johnny Depp starts as Dillinger, a self-stylized robin hood of depression era America, he and his gang roam the country taking banks for everything they have. During his travels, John charms and falls for a beautiful young lady; Evelyn Frechette played by the wonderful Marion Cotillard. They become deeply connected, nearly inseparable. Depp?s performance is understated and lacking any of the wild characteristics that his more popular portrayals are known for. He brings great class and seriousness to the role of Americas most wanted man. Cotillard is equally as thoughtful about her role, playing Dillinger?s great love with grace and poise. Dillinger is chased by the fledgling Federal Bureau of Investigation, and agent Melvin Purvis, Christian Bale, as is true of the most of the films cast; does not over play his character, reframing from screen grabbing performances, opting for a more subdued presence then capable of. The story is slowly paced; perhaps a bit to slow as the mid-section tends to drag a bit. Dillinger finds his list of friends disappearing, organized crime is moving away from simple robbery into the more profitable venues of gambling and kidnapping. The heads of Chicago?s families begin to see Dillinger as a threat to their security, his flamboyant headline grabbing raids bringing unwanted attention to there door steps. I wanted to love this film; its rough take on the story of America?s most famous bank robber was poignant and well told. The gunfights had realism and a lack of explosive style that I appreciated in light of today?s frequent over the top action sequences, Unfortunately I was slightly let down, I did not connect with the characters, Depp and Bale lacked the spark that a great hero villain relationship; never getting to dig into each others nature. It?s a waste to have these two fine actors and never have them explore an antagonistic connection. The entire film has a grounded authentic composition, the action sequences are edited with almost no music, the intense gun fire and low upfront angles give them a gritty more striking tone. Public Enemies is a very well made film, its cinematography and set pieces are beautiful, the characters are grounded in reality, the action is dirty and hard hitting. But I think it may take itself a bit too seriously. Depp doesn?t get to fully develop the persona of Dillinger; his motives are never completely visualized. It is a bit too long and slow in the second act, but does have a great authentic feeling. I enjoyed its details and realistic rendition of fascinating true events, but was not caught by the characters, it failed to grab and excite me.

The acting was very good by everyone in the top roles. The violence in the movie isn't sickening, although there is a lot of shooting (I expected). It isn't the best movie ever, but worth seeing.

Brick" is the story of a jaded investigator attempting to unravel a mystery involving shady characters from both the upper-crust and the criminal underbelly. This is a story of murder. A story of steely, tough men and seductive,calculating women. And everyone is still in highschool. Only two adults get minimal screen time. There are many noirish elements in this film. There are shadows here and there and characters moving in and out of the darkness. The scenes by the dark tunnel are well done. The dialog is very smart. You even get to hear an old-fashioned telephone ringing. With a real bell and everything. These High School kids have the attitudes and mannerisms of world-worn adults twice or three times their age. The film is played very straight. Occassionally, the gap between the style it is invoking and the setting is so wide that we can see the playfulness underneath it all. But the filmmaker also runs the risk of the audience alternately becoming absorbed in the story and being pulled out of it by that gap between the story and its setting. Since the story is played straight, the fourth wall remains fairly intact; there are very few moments that seem to intentionally break the facade. There are two brief scenes where one character's mother shows up and her motherly presence offers a bit of a "wink" at the camera. The closest thing to parody is a scene between Brandon, the main character, and the principal of the high school, which plays a lot like a scene between Humphrey Bogart and a government official. Brandon is tough as nails, and both he and the principal play off each other, each taking their turn at disclosing and witholding information in order to gain the upper hand. Brick is pretty engaging and fun, but it is hard to be too engaged in the unfolding of its complex plot at the same time that you are having fun with irony of the whole setup. After all, shouldn't these kids actually be in school, learning things?

Anyone who is a fan of hardboiled and noir will love this thriller, nicely shot (no pun intended) and directed. If you can follow the dialogue (I had ask my husband, a hardboiled fan, what the heck some of it meant), you will become absorbed by the story and forget that these are *highschoolers*, and not hardened detectives or thugs. There's some nice humor in the guise of a character named 'Tug', a highly amped musclehead, and Lukas Haas is great as the head honcho, 'The Pin', a kind of dark funeral director looking guy wearing all black, with a cape, who runs his kingdom out of his oblivious Mom's basement. Joseph Gordon-Leavitt is phenomenol too as the main lead. Great film to watch multiple times, even when you already know the ending.