Close, but Not Close Enough

Michael Mann’s “Public Enemies� is a period gangster flick with plenty of gunfights, molls, dumb G-men and colorful crooks that never really takes off.
   The film focuses on John Dillinger, with a quick appearance from Pretty Boy Floyd and a bigger role for Baby Face Nelson.
   Johnny Depp’s Dillinger has an appropriate swagger, and his short speech telling Billie Frechette (Marion Cotillard) about himself (“I like good clothes, fast cars, whiskey and youâ€�) is a gem.
   The film draws a neat parallel between J. Edgar Hoover using the Dillinger manhunt to establish the fledgling FBI, and Dillinger, mindful of his public image, rejecting a kidnapping scheme because “people don't like that.â€�
   And viewers can draw whatever inferences they like about Billy Crudup's smarmy Hoover — especially the way he holds a telephone.
   Gradually Dillinger gets hemmed in — the Feds, bumbling and inexperienced, can't catch him but keep the pressure on. And the organized mob wants to shut him down — his activities are inspiring a national crime bill that would make interstate crime a Federal offense and threaten their gambling rackets.
   In the end, Christian Bale’s wooden Melvin Purvis offers a Chicago madame and Dillinger confidante the choice of setting him up or being deported.
   The costumes are great, and most of the period stuff is convincing  — although in one scene Dillinger asks a roomful of cops listening to a baseball game on the radio who’s playing. They say the Cubs, and then the announcer says the Yankees are coming to bat. The only time that could have happened in the ’30s would have been October 1932, when Chicago and New York met in the World Series. The scene is the day Dillinger was killed, in July of 1934. (This error was spotted by sportscaster Warner Wolf on “Imus In the Morning.â€�)
   But the movie has more serious flaws. The shootout scene at the Little Bohemia Lodge is completely confusing, and the sound editing throughout is lousy, making it difficult to hear the dialogue.
   And it's a curiously arid film, delivered almost deadpan. Dillinger isn't especially cruel, nor is he particularly charming.
When an agent visits the girl in prison to tell her Dillinger’s last words, there’s a slight charge, a hint of Bogart watching Mary Astor going down in the elevator at the end of “The Maltese Falcon.�
But for a subject as rich as the Golden Age of Gangsters,
“Public Enemies� is pretty flat.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Brian Binder of Oshkosh, Wisc. was an extra in "Public Enemies," appearing briefly in the airport scene. His focus is not acting so much as clothes, and he was excited to get the chance to wear period costume:
"I got the call on a Sunday night less than one week before shooting was set to take place in my home town. On Monday we went in for haircuts & wardrobe, they brought their own stylists from Chicago and literally truckloads full of vintage clothes. I went through wardrobe first and was issued a newsboy hat, heavy duty wool pants with suspenders, a pinpoint buttondown, V-neck sweater vest, tie and a very nice wool Filson jacket. They were very meticulous with the clothes, making sure everything was correct for the period correct.

After wardrobe I got in line for a haircut — seems that white walls were standard issue back in the '30s because that's what we all got.
On the way out, I was told we get a call later in the week. They waited until Friday morning — the day of the shooting — to tell us to be at the airport by 11 a.m. They had our clothes waiting for us in a makeshift dressing room and afterwards we got the once over by Academy Award winner Colleen Atwood.

She didn't like my hat, and truth be told neither did I, so she sent me back for a better one. The second one passed her standards and I was off to hair and makeup where they trimmed my hair even shorter!
I was picked to be a reporter, but half of us were now assigned as photographers & issued '30s-era cameras and instructions on how to use them.

Around 2 p.m. were were shuttled over to the hanger where the scene took place and  started doing run-throughs. It was cold and to make matters worse it started raining. Some in the crowd got umbrellas, but I wasn't one of the lucky ones so I got drenched.  At first it was Johnny Depp's stunt double doing the run-throughs, but then Johnny appeared on set. Everyone was abuzz. He did a few practice takes, then it was time for the real thing.

They used flares just like in the '30s to light the scenes and that gave it a very authentic feel, wtih everyone dressed up. I almost felt I was in that era. We went through the same scene over and over without any breaks.
We had been standing on our feet for over seven hours and while it was a once in a lifetime experience, most of us were ready for it to be over so we could sit down and get warm. Finally they ran out of flares so we quit and were able to go inside and get something to eat.

I did see Christian Bale get whisked through the airport for his scene at another location and Johnny Depp was within 10 feet of me between takes, so I guess you could say those were my brushes with fame.