Critic Reviews
Public Enemies (2009) Rank 2 Reviews
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based on (198) reviews
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![Public Enemies (2009) scores a combined 2.40 out of 4 stars for Sunday Mirror [UK] (Mark Adams)](../images/2_5.gif)
Sunday Mirror [UK] (Mark Adams)
Little White Lies (Anton Bitel)
Uncut Magazine [UK] (Michael Bonner)
Courier Mail (Australia) (Des Partridge)
Certainly worth a look, but you might feel that Mann keeps his characters, apart from Billie, at arm's length. ...read the complete Public Enemies movie review at Courier Mail (Australia) (Des Partridge)
Sky Movies (Tim Evans)
jackiekcooper.com (Jackie K. Cooper)
PopMatters (Cynthia Fuchs)
Orlando Weekly (William Goss)
This is London (Andrew O'Hagan)
Michael Mann may not succeed with Public Enemies but the attempt is compelling enough. ...read the complete Public Enemies movie review at This is London (Andrew O'Hagan)
The Trend (Stephen Silver)
Mann doesn't let his movie breathe. It's a downright beautiful production... everything looks great- so why not show it? ...read the complete Public Enemies movie review at The Trend (Stephen Silver)
Time Out (Trevor Johnston)
It’s a fascinating moment in history, and Mann captures the cars, the guns and the buildings with painstaking, immersive authenticity. ...read the complete Public Enemies movie review at Time Out (Trevor Johnston)
Sun Online ()
While the FBI's brave new ideas worked, Mann's do not. ...read the complete Public Enemies movie review at Sun Online ()
2theMovies
Billy Crudup makes a strong, albeit unflattering, impression during his brief appearances as Hoover, but Public Enemies needs a stronger prime nemesis than Christian Bale's blank-faced Melvin Purvis. ...read the complete Public Enemies movie review at 2theMovies
Indie Movies Online (Kimberly Gadette)
But ultimately, in the battle between Dillinger and Purvis, the winner is...the production values. ...read the complete Public Enemies movie review at Indie Movies Online (Kimberly Gadette)
The Guardian
Mann's G-Man opera has the ingredients of a great film which don't quite come together. But they are certainly potent. There is a surging, sombre orchestral score by Elliot Goldenthal which channels the spirit of Bernard Herrmann's music for Taxi Driver. ...read the complete Public Enemies movie review at The Guardian
Washington Post (Dan Zak)
It's tough to watch Johnny Depp these days when he's not wearing eyeliner, a do-rag and a monkey on his shoulder. ...read the complete Public Enemies movie review at Washington Post (Dan Zak)
The Onion A.V. Club
Too much of Public Enemies feels disappointingly smaller than life. ...read the complete Public Enemies movie review at The Onion A.V. Club
Independent
At the heart of all this is the problem that neither Depp nor Bale has the weight to fight the kind of duel Mann wants, and Bale is too stiff to hold the interest. ...read the complete Public Enemies movie review at Independent
St. Louis Post-Dispatch (Calvin Wilson)
As sophisticated as it is entertaining, "Public Enemies" isn't the sort of film that's usually associated with the summer. But it has more than enough firepower to be a blockbuster. ...read the complete Public Enemies movie review at St. Louis Post-Dispatch (Calvin Wilson)
Boston Globe (Ty Burr)
Public Enemies has everything going for it except a reason and a script. ...read the complete Public Enemies movie review at Boston Globe (Ty Burr)
Can Magazine (Fred Topel)
Public Enemies was the movie I was most excited to see this summer. The idea of a ‘30s gangster movie made with all the trappings of modern cinema seemed like an exciting, original concept. Like most summer movies, it was less than I expected. ...read the complete Public Enemies movie review at Can Magazine (Fred Topel)
Atlantic City Weekly (Lori Hoffman)
... Depp has a few solid scenes that spark to life, only to have the spark fail to ignite a consistent interest in the story. ...read the complete Public Enemies movie review at Atlantic City Weekly (Lori Hoffman)
Movies for the Masses (Joseph Proimakis)
hit the link to read the full review ...read the complete Public Enemies movie review at Movies for the Masses (Joseph Proimakis)
Reel Film Reviews (David Nusair)
eFilmCritic.com (Erik Childress)
The Movie Minute (Joanna Langfield)
I.E. Weekly
In the minutes before his death, we watch Dillinger watching Clark Gable onscreen playing a crook in Manhattan Melodrama and Mann presses us to see these two doomed Hollywood gangsters as mirrors. ...read the complete Public Enemies movie review at I.E. Weekly
Boston Globe
Public Enemies has everything going for it except a reason and a script. ...read the complete Public Enemies movie review at Boston Globe
Film Freak Central
It's handsome, but, unlike most of Mann's other work, it doesn't mean a thing to me. ...read the complete Public Enemies movie review at Film Freak Central
One Guy's Opinion
The idea is a pretty weak one, but the footage from "Melodrama" shows that even in their heyday, there were mediocre crime dramas too, and that Public Enemies has plenty of company. ...read the complete Public Enemies movie review at One Guy's Opinion
Rotten Tomatoes - Reviews
A great looking but boring misfire. ...read the complete Public Enemies movie review at Rotten Tomatoes - Reviews
Reelfilm.com
Public Enemies marks the latest in an increasingly long line of disappointments from filmmaker Michael Mann. ...read the complete Public Enemies movie review at Reelfilm.com
Tonymedley.com
This would be a pretty good documentary. As entertainment, it comes up short. ...read the complete Public Enemies movie review at Tonymedley.com
Examiner.com
It's hard to call Public Enemies a bad movie. ...read the complete Public Enemies movie review at Examiner.com
News Blaze
Public Enemies: A movie about a bad boy folk hero whose legendary skill as an expert shooter far outshines the camera's talent here to shoot a movie. ...read the complete Public Enemies movie review at News Blaze
Chicago Metromix
Despite very good performances from Depp and Cotillard, Dillinger's interest in Billie never translates from innocuous pick-up to true love. ...read the complete Public Enemies movie review at Chicago Metromix
Boxoffice Magazine
Frequently taut but ultimately unsatisfying. ...read the complete Public Enemies movie review at Boxoffice Magazine
The Globe and Mail
Perhaps the most regrettable crime here is the way that Mann, trying to do too much, robs himself of a great opportunity. ...read the complete Public Enemies movie review at The Globe and Mail
New York Post
Sadly, this misfire is no classic like "Bonnie and Clyde" -- it's not even as good as "The Untouchables. ...read the complete Public Enemies movie review at New York Post
Carolina Weekly
Public Enemies can catch your eye with its powerful imagery. But when I noticed it started to feel long, we still had 30 minutes to go. ...read the complete Public Enemies movie review at Carolina Weekly
Aufmuth.com
It doesn't get hotter or more A-list than Johnny Depp and Christian Bale burning up the screen in a ruthless and prickly Michael Mann epic. ...read the complete Public Enemies movie review at Aufmuth.com
Decent Films Guide (Steven D. Greydanus)
With its well-staged stickups and shootouts … it seems to be all surface — a glossy updating of 1930s Hollywood gangster melodrama without any substantial commentary or insight. ...read the complete Public Enemies movie review at Decent Films Guide (Steven D. Greydanus)
Eclipse Magazine (Michelle Alexandria)
MovieMartyr.com
It's tempting to chalk Public Enemies' incompetence in presenting Dillinger up to Mann's disinterest in conventional movie characters, yet this movie is filled with endless expository scenes with dialogue that is too cute and contrived to accept any such ...read the complete Public Enemies movie review at MovieMartyr.com
Hollywoodreporter.com
A missed opportunity to make gangster picture with flesh-and-blood characters. ...read the complete Public Enemies movie review at Hollywoodreporter.com
New York Magazine (David Edelstein)
The best rejoinder to Public Enemies is Michael Jackson's Smooth Criminal video... It's a tommy-gun gangster fantasia with a touch of Guys and Dolls, and it's everything Public Enemies isn't. ...read the complete Public Enemies movie review at New York Magazine (David Edelstein)
E!Online
The script is stale and frozen in the middle, and there's no emotional core for Depp to latch on to. ...read the complete Public Enemies movie review at E!Online
MSNBC (Alonso Duralde)
Kinetofilm (Brian Holcomb)
Daily Telegraph (Sukhdev Sandhu)
What'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. ...read the complete Public Enemies movie review at Daily Telegraph (Sukhdev Sandhu)
Tri-City Herald
You learn nothing about these criminals or the era in Mann's bloated, over-produced, often historically inaccurate film done with sound so poorly recorded that what passes for dialogue is a muddled mess. ...read the complete Public Enemies movie review at Tri-City Herald
Richmond.com (Mike Ward)
I won't make the obvious hack joke about "Public Enemies" stealing from moviegoers - oops. But if you want to see a decent cat and mouse story, watch "Catch Me If You Can." Or the History Channel. ...read the complete Public Enemies movie review at Richmond.com (Mike Ward)
MCN Review
Mostly enjoyable ride with some great production design and solid acting, this is the kind of depth that Public Enemies lacks. ...read the complete Public Enemies movie review at MCN Review
Teletext
Towards the predictable bloody finale, Dillinger feels inspired by Clark Gable's slick hoodlum in the 1934 flick Manhattan Melodrama. It's a nice touch - in real life this was the last pic Dillinger saw before his death. ...read the complete Public Enemies movie review at Teletext
TheDivaReview.com
A life story that should have allowed Johnny Depp to dig into his scenes with a knife and fork is a hollow, listless shell of a film with nothing but the name power and valiant efforts of its actors to recommend it. ...read the complete Public Enemies movie review at TheDivaReview.com
Entertainment Spectrum
As much as the film had bang for the buck, it just did not cut it. ...read the complete Public Enemies movie review at Entertainment Spectrum
Rotten Tomatoes (--)
Mann's would-be gangster saga lacks personality. It fails to exploit its topic and its first-rate cast. And that is a crime. ...read the complete Public Enemies movie review at Rotten Tomatoes (--)
Themovieboy.com
Public Enemies, alas, is coldly ineffectual bordering on transparent, so thin as to evaporate from the mind the moment it is over. ...read the complete Public Enemies movie review at Themovieboy.com
News of the World
In a cold way, you can admire the spirit of Public Enemies - but while you're watching, it's hard to give a monkey's. ...read the complete Public Enemies movie review at News of the World
User Reviews
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by gd2525 on July 17, 2009 Blackwood, New Jersey
The film is decent for what is advertised, Johnny Depp as a criminal and Christian Bale hunting him down. However, the overall film is hurt by director Michael Mann's constant use of a shakey camera making some scenes really incoherent. The acting ...
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