Public Enemies (2009)

Public Enemies (2009)

Dir. Michael Mann



Rating: 3.5/5 Stars


Summary: In the 1930's, J. Edgar Hoover, who at the time was the Director of the FBI, assigns Melvin Purvis (Christian Bale) the job of arresting known criminals such as Pretty Boy Floyd, Baby Face Nelson, and America's #1 most wanted John Dillinger (Johnny Depp). John Dillinger, unfazed by his #1 most wanted status, continues on doing what he does best, robbing banks. Dillinger continues to get himself out of harm's way with Purvis getting closer with each robbery until their fateful encounter.

***SPOILER ALERT***
Review: The movie runs about 2.5 hours when in fact, they probably could have cut it down a bit. There are moments in the movie when it runs dry and starts to get dull, but overall the movie kept me interested. Bale and Depp both played their characters exceptionally well and really rounded out the story. Some people have complained that the movie made John Dillinger out be more of a hero when in fact he really was a bank robber, a "bad guy". This may be true, but from information that I have gathered, a lot of people idolized him with some thinking of him as some "Robin Hood". I'm sure that the love of Dillinger and the hate of the government was embellished , but I feel it was within the bounds of what history showed. Public Enemies reminded me in some ways of "American Gangster" which starred Russell Crowe and Denzel Washington. Both movies were long and both had similiar elements in what happened to the gangster.

Final Thoughts:

• I liked how every so often, you would get shots being seen through the eye of the old camcorders of the day. Some of the first shots that didn't have Dillinger in them had me wondering if they were found footage or just B-roll that was touched up.
  
• One of those embellishments to make Dillinger look good was the fact that you never really saw Dillinger kill any cops, even though he had killed several.
• With these kinds of movies, I always wonder how much of the dialogue was actually said back then.