Public Enemies

The film chronicles (inaccurately) the life and crimes of John Dillinger, big
time 30's bank robber, and the attempts of the embryonic FBI to arrest him.

Now, on paper, this ought to be a cracker. You've got a notoriously cheeky and
raffish bank robber played by Johnny Depp, a stoic and by the book FBI guy
played by Christian Bale, and the whole thing directed by Michael Mann, who
directed Heat, arguably the best bank heist movie ever made. How could this
fail to be the best movie of the year? Beats me, but it did.

I *think* it's the script. That's my best guess. I realised about 40 minutes in
that I no longer gave a fuck what happened. I didn't like the robbers at all,
so I didn't much want them to get away with anything. But on the other hand,
the FBI were a bunch of stuffed shirts and I didn't really care if they caught
anyone. It was as if every effort had been made to present shades of grey, and
not glamourise bank robbery or law enforcement, with the ultimate result that
the entire exercise was grey and lacking in glamour.

Visually, it's pretty good; a bit sepia and low lit, but pretty stylish, and
when the bank heists are on, you really feel Michael Mann getting into his
stride. But as far as the story goes, I was left thinking "So?"