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07/09/09
Public Enemies (2009)
67
%
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:237
Fresh:159
Rotten:78
Average Rating:6.3/10
Consensus: Michael Mann's latest is a competent and technically impressive gangster flick with charismatic lead performances, but some may find the film lacks truly compelling drama.
Theatrical Release:01-07-2009
Synopsis: Johnny Depp and Christian Bale emerge from two of the biggest blockbuster series of all time (Pirates of the Caribbean and Batman, respectively) to star in this crime drama from HEAT director... [More]
Starring: Johnny Depp, Christian Bale, Marion Cotillard, Jason Clarke
Director: Michael Mann
Reviews for Public Enemies
Public Enemies is like a Bugsy Malone for fashionistas - the actors look like models on a GQ shoot, posing about in dapper suits and toting fake shooters. The brilliant jail sets and Chicago recreations only add to a sense of mannequin perfection for styl
07/04/09
It’s a fascinating moment in history, and Mann captures the cars, the guns and the buildings with painstaking, immersive authenticity.
07/03/09
Top CriticMann's best film since Heat is arguably the best movie anyone's made since Heat.
07/03/09
Top CriticQuestionable production values alone are not enough to sink a movie. Cinema doesn’t have to look great if it has something to say. But it’s not entirely clear what Public Enemies is trying to say.
07/03/09
Top CriticIt's a picture with virility and confidence, and unlike Dillinger's machine-gun, which the man himself expertly takes to pieces, it never quite jams, and gets off one or two lethal rounds.
07/03/09
Top CriticWhat's dismaying about Public Enemies, over and beyond the unintelligibility of much of the dialogue and the sliminess of its digital sheen, is that it has no sense of why it's been made.
07/03/09
Top CriticMany talented people, but especially Christian Bale are short-changed by his clouded vision. The brightly glaring digital photography doesn't help, but in the end the worst crime is that the story is just plain dull.
07/03/09
A film more to admire than to love.
07/03/09
Classy for sure. Sharply paced too. But while Public Enemies gives Bonnie And Clyde a run for their money, The Godfather has nothing to fear.
07/03/09
This superstar crime thriller emerges as something surprising, fascinating and technically dazzling. Don’t expect a Hollywood movie. Expect a Michael Mann movie.
07/03/09
This crisp digital look affords Public Enemies an incredible sense of immediacy. Mann, too, has a strong eye for forensic detail that ramps up the vividness of the film.
07/03/09
Whilst there is a lot of gun action and violent set pieces in this, it’s really a piece that is really all about the characters and it hands down the best gangster movie of the last decade… at least. One of this year’s few must see movies.
07/03/09
Mann dedicates himself to making Dillinger look cool, and that's the problem with the whole movie. It looks the business, but has no depth, nothing to say, no new angle. It just feels like a homage to older, better films.
07/03/09
Here is a film alive in a way we’ve not perceived before: a breathtakingly new visual experience, a precision-choreographed action thriller, and a classically minded piece of American art.
07/03/09
Top CriticShot in pin-sharp high-definition, this is one amazing-looking movie, where even the most ordinary scenes crackle with energy and suspense. As with Heat, Mann's made not just the crime drama of the year, but possibly of the decade too.
07/03/09
Like Dillinger, the film lives fast, only to die young.
07/03/09
Public Enemies is one of those films that lurches between sheer brilliance and muddled moments... but it does feature Johnny Depp in terrific form and is worth seeing just for him alone.
07/03/09
While the FBI's brave new ideas worked, Mann's do not.
07/03/09
Public Enemies is original because everyone, outlaw and enforcer, criminal and cop, looks and behaves the same.
07/03/09
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July 03, 2009:
An action-heavy thriller so consistently barebones and lacking in any truly subversive thrust, and with mere peripheral vision of the historical moment, that the guns and clothes have more personality than the people. 
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July 03, 2009:
An action-heavy thriller so consistently barebones and lacking in any truly subversive thrust, and with mere peripheral vision of the historical moment, that the guns and clothes have more personality than the people.
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