Michael Mann has directed 9 films since 1981, not including the countless TV shows and movies he's produced. But, when he does direct a film, he's very, very good at it. Mann has an affinity for stark urban landscapes and is normally in his element when directing crime films. Such as his film debut Thief (1981) or Manhunter (1986) or Heat (1995), he can get the best performances out of his actors and can film good sequences. For his next film, it'll be fair to say, in one respect, that he's going home, back to his roots. Mann's birthplace of Chicago, Illinois will act as host to his next film, which looks at the crimewave which swept through the city in the early 1930's. But, it sees Mann back doing another crime film, but it could be his most successful one yet, it has a great cast playing real-life gangsters, and it is a throwback to the gangster films of old. Public Enemies sees Mann on familiar ground, with potential for success here...
Public Enemies is based on a book by Bryan Burrough called "Public Enemies: America's Greatest Crime Wave and the Birth of the FBI, 1933-43" It focuses on FBI agent Melvin Purvis (Christian Bale), who is chosen by President J. Edgar Hoover to go after the most notorious American criminals working at the time. The main one is John Dillinger, (Johnny Depp!!
) whose crimes would make headline news. The others are bank robbers and killers Pretty Boy Floyd (Channing Tatum) and Baby Face Nelson (Stephen Graham). But, with the crime rate booming, Purvis has his work cut out for him...
It's good to see Mann back at work, even after the film adaptation of Miami Vice (2006), (a show which he originally produced), split audiences and critics down the middle, even if it did look good visually and had some suspenseful moments throughout. He's picked a good story, which is literally quite close to home for him. It has it's similarities to Heat, with a cop vowing to bring down a criminal, whether Purvis develops the same respect for Dillinger that Vincent Hanna developed for Neil McCauley in Heat remains to be seen. But, Public Enemies will see Mann working with cinematographer Dante Spinotti, (they worked on The Last of the Mohicans, Heat and The Insider.)
Cast-wise, Mann has made some quite excellent choices. Including Johnny Depp as John Dillinger, a choice which could actually work. Depp is always a welcome addition to any film, and seeing him as a real-life gangster will make for exciting viewing indeed. Christian Bale is always a versatile actor, who has made some very good films recently, it'll be good to see how he and Depp spar off in this. Recent Oscar-winner Marion Cotillard will be playing Billie Frechette, Dillinger's singer girlfriend. Other cast members include Stephen Dorff as Homer Van Meter, another notorious criminal, Giovanni Ribisi as criminal Alvin Karpis and David Wenham as Pete Pierpont, one of Dillinger's closest associates. A great cast in all, and Mann, as well as capturing good visual shots, will get the best out of these actors...
TRAILER!!
It's always exciting to see what Michael Mann comes up with next, he makes films that are visually compelling and emotionally engaging. With Public Enemies, it'll be good to see how he captures this era of crime, he's done crime films before, but alot of them have been set present day, now he's doing a period crime film, based on a true story as well. Alot of people will probabily see it to see what Depp is like as John Dillinger, but Mann's most loyal fans won't be dissapointed with this film. It's got all the right ingrediants, a classic, compelling story, a great cast and a director who's good with actors and directing visuals, sounds very Oscar worthy to me!!
