Film Review: Public Enemies

Public Enemies is a Michael Mann crime epic that tells the true story of gangster John Dillinger. As Mann’s Heat stands as one of my all-time favorite films, I was excited to see his latest work.

Michael Mann has had great success in the crime genre. His films include Heat, Collateral, and Miami Vice, all three of which I highly enjoyed. Public Enemies has elements of these films, such as the character exploration of the villain. Mann has always turned the audience around to see things from the villain’s point of view. John Dillinger is a perfect antihero to fit this style of storytelling.

Dillinger is played wonderfully by Johnny Depp, who gave a brilliant performance that captures the audience. Viewers root for Depp just as real citizens did for Dillinger in the 1930s. His Robin Hood style of robbery combined with his smooth charm makes him a captivating lead character. Combine his exploits with his love interest and Public Enemies has a very entertaining and complex lead. As the film progresses we see Dillinger’s deconstruction from an untouchable mobster to an illusioned and desperate man.

The story is more emotion than narrative. I identified with the characters much more than I anticipated the next stage of the chase between Dillinger and Agent Melvin Pervis (Christian Bale). At times the plot was confusing, and though Depp was excellent, we did not see enough of Bale. Without the exploration of the cop side of the case, it was hard to develop a real interest in their cat and mouse game. I think with the balance tilted slightly more towards the story behind the law enforcement the story could have been more engaging. Additionally, I feel that there was more to the character of Agent Pervis than the stereotype tough agent we were given.

I would not be willing to sacrifice much of Dillinger’s story however, but it would be difficult to add anything to the film. At 2 hours and 20 minutes Public Enemies is certainly not lacking content. I noticed the runtime a little bit, but that could have been because I saw it in a packed theater at approximately 1000 degrees. I understand the length because time is needed to delve into the characters as Mann wants, but there were some areas that could have been cut with little consequence.

Public Enemies is a thoughtful crime drama that I did enjoy. The action and story are solid, and the acting is phenomenal. It is nowhere close to Heat, but then again few movies are.

7.5/10