Marion Cotillard and “Public Enemies” Premiere, LA

Posted by fjgirls in June 24th, 2009

Public Enemies premiered last nightÂ and was Â held at the Mann Village Theatre in Westwood, Los Angeles on June 23. Marion Cotillard is our headline as she attended the event and also as she has a female lead role alongside Johnny Depp, Christian Bale and Channing Tatum in this new film. She looked every inch an Oscar winner last night. Photo below: Marion Cotillard Splash News. With such acting weight in this film, this is something that needs a serious closer inspection!

Public Enemies is based on Bryan Burrough’s non-fiction book, Public Enemies: America’s Greatest Crime Wave and the Birth of the FBI, 1933â€“34 and the film is directed by Michael Mann. Due for UK release on July 1st, US pretty much the same..

This is a female celebrity site but Johnny Depp gets a mention here, as he is a talented actor, has FJ as a serious fan due to his charismatic, unassuming and mysterious persona with some strange and eccentric character choices, film appearances and portrayals, in short he is a character and not a typical in your face style actor. Photo below Johnny Depp Newscom

He has the ability to take onÂ a huge variety of Â roles including Pirates of the Caribean, Sweeney Todd, Edward Scissorhands, Sleepy Hollow, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, the list goes on. If you are after a typical Johnny Depp film that is very odd, slightlyÂ underground, Â but an incredibly good watch “Dead Man” is where its at, its in black and white and this film really just about sums him and his film choices up. Essential viewing but be warned “its strange” and you may have to watch it 2 or 3 times to understand the very strong message and what on earth is actually going on. Women of all ages just love this guy! Photo below: Amber Heard. Splash News

The Plot:

Very simple one. FBI agent Melvin Purvis (Bale) sets his sights on American gangsters John Dillinger (Depp) and Pretty Boy Floyd (Tatum) in an attempt to curb a rampant Midwest crime spree during the 1930s.Information courtesy Wikiepdia

The Trailer courtesy You Tube

Public Enemies Trailer
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The Verdict:

This verdict is trailer based and with some research from some top sources who’s views are respected by this site and this is a distillation of those views!

The good points. Strong cast, good director and an incredible strongÂ storyline based on a book that is based on a true story and true characters, from one of the bloodiest crimewaves in a period of economic disaster the likes of which the world has not seen since, not even in this present economic climate. All should make for an extremely good film.

The not so good points, this film has been noted by respected sources as being a bit slow off the mark and never really getting there in the end. There’s all the gangland, crime action scenes granted but with such a compelling storyline set in an electric 30’s environment, with massive legendary gangland names, the general feeling is it could have achieved more and been a bit quicker off the mark in doing this. Characters in this film are not fully developed by all accounts, some real gem characters, legendary gangsters of their time but you never really get the full insight into these ruthless but fascinating people. Some facts by all accounts are not truly accurate which also may grate on some people who may have read the book or are clued up on such things.

The saving graces. Johny Depp, when has there been a film which has starred Johnny Depp that has not been that good? Thinking hard, just can’t think of any! Marion Cotillard, Oscar winner 2008 superb actress, not really fully utilised in this film but she is there none the less, looking very nice, worth going to see just for her in that bath, another positive mark. The overall theme of the film, 1930’s depression, gangsters, there’s nothing out there like it at the moment and probably will not be for some time. Therefore box office prediction with the names that are in this film is it should be causing a bit of a stir and thats putting it mildly!

Bottom line on this film, great for experiencing the gangland violence and immersion into the 30’s period, not so great for the human side of the film as in the characters, who is Pretty Boy Floyd, Alvin Karpis and Baby Face Nelson, what are they all about, what drove them to become gangsters, and what really makes them tick , these are massive names that everybody has heard of just given a bit ofÂ a passing charactisationÂ in this film, they are there but WHO are these people and Â WHAT are they all about and WHY bother having them in this film?

RatingÂ 3 and half stars but only just. With stronger importance placed on the character development instead of the violence, it could have been a 4 as there is acting presence here that could have stretched this area a lot further. After all that, is it worth going to see in the cinema?……..you bet……..on purely visual terms this does look really good!

Red Carpet Highlights:

Rosario Dawson