Julia Marshall

Hi, I'm new here :) After hearing a lot of overheated puff about Public enemies it was rather disappointing to see it in the theater. Though the costumes and makeup were impeccable (Billies nails are even painted in the style of the period) the cinamatography was oppressively HD and poorly executed. I know next to nothing about types of cameras, but the handycam was distracting and annoying, as was the home-movie-esque overuse of zoom (how many times do I have to see every hair and pore on Depp's face??). I go to an arts college, and have seen every type of student film imaginable, and Enemies was right up there with them in terms of execution. It looked like a senior thesis film with unbelievably famous actors. Aside from the shoddy film making, the screenplay and script were good but never great. Characters were introduced then killed off without much development in between. Instead of exploring the public's fascination with Dillinger as a Robin Hood archetype, this theme is barely raised and then abandoned. Depp was his usual charismatic and charming self, but was left to bear the extra weight of a threadbare plot. Bale did his best, but his limited character development really hobbled his efforts (despite that great accent).