Public Suckfest

Don’t mistake, when I say “public” I’m only referencing the title of this Michael Mann directed pile of dung – I had to pay for the privilege to see it.

I swear there's a positive correlation between good marketing, and horrible final products. The better the poster, the trailer, the website -- the worse the movie.

Even if it weren’t for the horrifically jarring digital cinematography, I don’t think this one could have been saved. The sound design was beyond flat, the writing lifeless, the dialogue uninspired, the characters barely two dimensional…

Another movie that makes me wonder why they bothered wasting the time, effort, and acting talent. Where is the Michael Mann who helmed The Last of the Mohicans, Collateral, Heat? What is going on with the people who put this stuff together?

The digital shots were jarring, like watching the first 10 minutes of Quantum of Solace, for over two hours, though they were probably actually barely moving the camera here. The technique of keeping the lens as still as possible to minimize the digital blur, such as with flicks like Reign Over Me, was entirely thrown out the window.

They employed tracking and handheld shots as much as possible, creating a disorienting series of coverage that bordered on pointless. You couldn’t tell what was going on, you couldn’t follow what was happening.

The characters were beyond flat, and uninteresting. There was no flesh to them, no life, nothing that made them interesting, funny, or tragic. Dillinger is painted as too good, the Feds as too bad, Nelson as a caricature, with little ground in between.

Was Michael Mann behind this, or did I misread the credits? Was it really Brian De Palma? Because this unimagined film was little better than The Black Dahlia, similarly boring and unauthentic.

If you’re going out to the movies this holiday weekend, give this one a pass. It’s not worth the time.