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Manns approach toPublic Enemiesis unique and admirable, but almost damned from the outset.
However, the narrative just isnt served by the direction.
The cast are uniformly strong.
As his fellow cinema-goers apathetically glance around, Dillingers smirk is priceless.
It results in a film that has all of the grace of a Tommy gun.
All depth and resonance are sieved out of an ultra-compressed narrative (yet its still 140 mins long!
), and any subtlety is eventually drowned out by woodpecker-on-skull sound design.
Public Enemiesis a frustrating hodge-podge of contradictions not in reference to its thematic complexity, but its conflicted aesthetic.
Rating:
3 out of 5
