I love these movies!

I just saw two of the best movies that I will see all year. They are as different as can be; one is sentimental and quirky, the other lean and merciless.

Michael Mann's Public Enemies is the easily his best film since 1999's The Insider, and probably my favortie Micheal Mann film with the one possible exception being his debut film, Theif. Johnny Depp teams with Michael Mann to make a film that Dillinger would have loved: efficient, no bullshit, but stylish as hell. Mann and cinematographer Dante Spinotti have outdone themselves in creating a look to this film that is beautiful, but feels lived in like few period pieces ever do. The common themes that run through this film are vintage Mann: he lionizes the person who follows his own moral compass, right or wrong and despises those who force others to act against their morals and the individuals who allow their morals to be compromised. There is equal hatred in this film for Frank Nitti as their is for J. Edgar Hoover (Billy Crudup in a brilliant cameo). And while Depp doesn't have too many "Oscar Reel" moments, his performance is a triumph. Depp understands that Dillinger spent most of his life playing a part, but we can never quite tell wether it is more of a mercenary move in order to hide among the public, or if he's doing it for the sheer unbridled fun of it. I didn't realize how much I loved this performance until I saw one of the film's final scenes that is full of tension and ends with a comment on a baseball game. I refuse to say more.

Away We Go is Sam Mendes fifth film and marks a major departure from his other work. It is the first that does not have cinematographers Conrad Hall (RIP) or Roger Deakins atttatched and also eschews Mendes typical Thomas Newman score for a indie folk heavy soundtrack. Whereas Revolutionary Road seemed a bit stale, this film is warm and fresh and bolstered by a lovely screenplay courtesy of real life literary supercouple David Eggers and Vendela Vida. The film aims for a very specific and complicated emotional tone and nails it. The cast is great, but you will leave the theatre talking about Maya Rudolph, whose performance would carry this film if it so needed. Her active listening, her total commitment to character will blow you away if you are looking. Of the slew of bit parts that wander in and out of the film, Allison Janney is the funniest, and Chris Messina the most touching. Rudolph and Krasinski together, however, might have accomplished the greatest feat in creating a couple that is believable despite the films intense scrutiny. There is never a moment of falsehood between them, and their relationship is one that you cannot help but root for.

I will discuss the mixed critical reaction to these films at a later time.