Review of Public Enemies (2009) by Camille — 30 Jun 2009

I should have loved this movie. I like and appreciate many of the actors and I love crime dramas and heist movies. This wasn't either of those things. This movie was boring, plain and simple. Performances were wooden, facts were implied rather than explained, and I wasn't rooting for either side.

Depp never felt like the anti-hero he was supposed to; I didn't care whether or not he was caught. And Bale didn't inspire me as the hand of righteousness he was supposed to represent; I didn't care whether or not he captured Dillanger.

And story and acting aside, the film itself looked like it was shot on a handheld digital camera, which often took me out of the movie theater and made me feel like I was watching the homework assignment of a film student.

Plus, the movie was more than two hours long. Had I not been with a group of friends, I would have walked out and saved myself an extra hour of my life. All in all, it wasn't the worst movie I've seen, but I expected more that what was delivered and as an avid movie-goer, I was pretty disappointed.

I would have much rather spent my $10 seeing Star Trek again.