In the action-thriller Public Enemies, we are shown the story of legendary Depression-era outlaw John Dillinger (Depp)—the charismatic bank robber whose lightning raids made him the number one target of J. Edgar Hoover's fledgling FBI and its top agent, Melvin Purvis (Bale), and a folk hero to much of the downtrodden public. No one could stop Dillinger and his gang. No jail could hold him. His charm and audacious jailbreaks endeared him to almost everyone—from his girlfriend Billie Frechette (Cotillard) to an American public who had no sympathy for the banks that had plunged the country into the Depression. But while the adventures of Dillinger's gang—later including the sociopathic Baby Face Nelson (Stephen Graham) and Alvin Karpis (Giovanni Ribisi)—thrilled many, Hoover (Billy Crudup) hit on the idea of exploiting the outlaw's capture as a way to elevate his Bureau of Investigation into the national police force that became the FBI. He made Dillinger America's first Public Enemy Number One and sent in Purvis, the dashing "Clark Gable of the FBI." However, Dillinger and his gang outwitted and outgunned Purvis' men in wild chases and shootouts. Only after importing a crew of Western ex-lawmen (newly baptized as agents) and orchestrating epic betrayals—from the infamous "Lady in Red" to the Chicago crime boss Frank Nitti—were Purvis, the FBI and their new crew of gunfighters able to close in on Dillinger.This was a very enjoyable movie. I have always been of fan of Michael Mann directed movies. I just like the look that his movies have. Johnny Depp is one of the top three actors in Hollywood and has pretty much reached that "We'd watch this guy take a $hit" status. Christian Bale finally shed the Batman overacting voice and was a solid supporting actor in this. The bank scenes and action scenes were great and the tension going back and forth between the bank robbers and the cops getting towards their eventual climax was very well done. The one real downer of this movie was the lovey dovey garbage between John Dillinger and his girlfriend. The movie would be trucking along at a great pace and then would hit such a wall when the two of them were on screen together. It really didn't seem to work at all. Its unfortunate because this movie would have been excellent without that major distraction that kept rearing its head every time the movie would build up a great head of steam.
I would still recommend people checking this bad boy out. Its not a must see by any means, but is a pretty good watch.
