bang! bang! you're dead, or, Public Enemies scene at Little Bo

For those interested in such things, here is a YouTube video of the shoot out at Little Bohemia Lodge from the 2009 film Public Enemies. The film starred Johnny Depp, Christian Bale, and Marion Cotillard. Despite a good week of filming and interrupting people's sleep with machine gun shots at 2 am, the part that takes place in Manitowish Waters occupies a relatively short part of the film. Also, as we locals cannot help but notice, the outside scenes were clearly not filmed up here. Only the inside of the lodge is "authentic."

Although the cast is impressive, the film disappointed this viewer as it seemed more of a "shoot 'em up" than to possess any redeeming value. In fact, it makes one wonder about the values of our society -- why is the hero (or anti-hero) of the film Dillinger himself, a man who by all accounts appears to have been pretty repulsive, and who doesn't impress as anything else even being portrayed by Johnny Depp? I am not saying that the main character should have been Christian Bale's character, the FBI agent Purvis, who appeared equally uninteresting. OK, so basically I am wondering what good making this movie did for anyone at all, except for local businesses who profited from the monetary income.

Nevertheless, it is a moment of fame for the Northwoods. Let us revel in our brief moment of glory.