Public Enemies

John Dillinger, Chicago's public enemy #1 hits the streets during the Great Depression and takes on the Bureau of Investigation's J. Edgar Hoover and Melvin Purvis (played by Billy Crudup and Christian Bale respectively). For 150 minutes Dillinger is constantly being pursued by them while remaining a focal point in the public eye and, of course, robbing banks. When he gets caught he escapes it was as simple as that. In every facet of his life he was bold, ruthless and brutally honest, "My name is John Dillinger and I rob banks," with the one exception, his girl, Billie (Marion Cotillard). Their chemistry was immediate, their love was believable but their relationship was ultimately doomed for failure but that was ok with them. This movie does not glorify Dillinger, he was a ganster, bank robber and murderer but in the end I was still rooting for him. And since it was based on a true story (or about as true as one can be), it makes for a hell of experience.

There are two things I love about Michael Mann films; first his style of filming, parts of the movie is almost like watching a home video shot on a personal camcorder, it is very unique and one of his many differentiators. Second, the gun fight scenes and if you have seen his other films like Heat, Collateral and Miami Vice you know exactly what I am talking about. There are several minutes where both sides are having a good old fashion shoot out...it doesn't get any better than that.

Bottom Line, Public Enemies was a fantastic movie. Johnny Depp's depiction of John Dillinger was brillant and he, yet again, pleases audiences with another genre of his many personas. His supporting cast Cotillard, Bale and Crudup developed their characters perfectly and made their performances extremely authentic. Even though the overall film dragged on at times, it missed tops marks by just a fraction. So I give it the highest possible A.