The storyline of Enemies, detailing the dual nature of criminals and the lawmen that chase them, is certainly nothing new to Mann. The topic had been central in his 1995 classic Heat where the boundaries between good bad were so blurred that Robert De Niro’s thief and Al Pacino’s cop seemed to be one in the same. Enemies is cut from the same cloth as the lives of Dillinger’s gang and Melvin Purvis’ feds run in parallels.
With rumors of Leo Vicario dismissed after his commitment to Scorsese’s Shutter Island, the production was fortunate to land Depp in its leading role. Few actors have been as consistent as Depp over the years. No matter the genre, or setting, he has attacked his roles with uncanny devotion.
With Depp secured, Mann set out to find the perfect fit to play Melvin Purvis, the man who was to ruthlessly hunt Depp’s Dillinger. All signs pointed to another immensely talented actor in Christian Bale whose recent triumphs, including 3:10 to Yuma and The Dark Knight, have propelled him to A-list status. And with Oscar-winner Marion Cotillard (La Vie en Rose) as Dillinger’s love interest, Enemies was set to go full steam ahead.
Mann’s script, adapted from Bryan Burrough’s non-fiction work “Public Enemies: America's Greatest Crime Wave and the Birth of the FBI, 1933-34”, begins quickly as we are immediately dropped into the life of famous bank robber John Dillinger. A jailbreak sequence ensues and the audience is left with little time to relax as the cunning criminal and his band of misfits unleash a wave of thievery and violence on the city of Chicago.
Having taken on mythical status as a depression era Robin Hood, Dillinger becomes the focus of J. Edgar Hoover’s newly created FBI. Hoover hand picks lawman Melvin Purvis to lead his “War on Crime” and gives him orders to capture Dillinger no matter the costs. With little regard for tomorrow, Dillinger revels in his popularity and continues his rampage until destiny catches up at The Biograph theatre.
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| Cotillard re-evaluating her relationship with Johnny. |
To help augment Mann’s hyper-reality is a brand of cinematography that is best described as guerilla. The hand-held cameras shake with reckless abandon hoping to find serendipity within their unplanned movements. The gun battles are earth shattering and the heists exhilarating.
Despite the ultra clarity of Mann all digital world, the medium is not without pitfalls. The film is never able to assume the true feeling of a 1930s period piece. This may be due to the audience’s unfamiliarity with the digital environment, but the absence of old fashioned celluloid prevents the setting from feeling, well, old fashioned. The irony is that the film is probably the most visually accurate account of the times yet it struggles to relate the feeling of the times.
Mann’s script, a collaborative work with two other writers, is taut and never comes across as contrived or bland. However, it does lack grit. We never get the feeling that we are immersed in a renegade gangland culture that is predicated on irrational and erratic behavior. Save for a handful of scenes, including a brutal interrogation of Marion Cotillard, it all seems too superficial and calculated.
As for the film’s star-studded cast, they all do well and efficiently execute Mann’s detailed outline. But, unfortunately, they are never truly tested and forced to play in a controlled environment that stifles their tremendous talent. Unlike Mann’s previous achievement Heat, Enemies never invokes the spirit of the criminal. It is quite possible that the film, like Dillinger, got caught up in its own publicity and strolled into theatres assuming greatness was around the corner.