Public Enemies: Movie Review

Cast: Johnny Depp, Billy Crudup

Director: Michael Mann

Public Enemies directed by Michael Mann is a sprawling period piece, a crime drama set in the 30s-era of gangsters and lawmen, and it stars Johnny Depp as Robin Hood-style legendary bank robber John Dillinger.

The film blends a lot of fact and a bit of fantasy to tell the story of Dillinger who robbed the rich and occasionally gave to the poor, eventually emerging as a larger-than-life folk hero whom the feds swung into action to capture.

The filmmaker shoots Dillinger as a cocky fugitive who enjoys outwitting the law and is practically impervious to capture.

Much like our Hindi movie heroes, he manages to escape even when outnumbered, he dodges a flurry of bullets, and brazenly taunts the feds by hiding in plain sight.

Billy Crudup stars as the young J Edgar Hoover, then the head of the fledgling FBI, and Christian Bale plays Melvin Purvis, the agent in charge of bringing Dillinger to justice.

If the film had focused on these three men and the battle of wits between them, there might have been room to develop them as characters, but director Michael Mann crams the film with numerous side players who appear just long enough to be blown up by the cops.

For those who just want to see gun battles, the love story angle between Dillinger and Billie, the beautiful hat-check girl played by Marion Cottilard, may drag towards the middle of the film, but Depp and Cottilard have palpable chemistry and their romantic scenes are some of the movie's finest.

Filmed in a deliberately 'digitial video' style to capture the immediacy of the action, Public Enemies does full justice to the period it's set in by delivering flawless production design in terms of sets and props and costumes.

Johnny Depp plays Dillinger with a subtly simmering charm, and Mann shoots him in tight close-ups to heighten his appeal. But in the end it's the action set pieces you remember because sadly this film fails to establish a genuine emotional connection to the characters. And without that depth, you really couldn't care less about whose blood is getting spilled.

Public Enemies doesn't hold its own against some of Mann's previous films including Heat and The Insider, but it's an enjoyable enough blow-em-up picture for action fans.