Public Enemies **** (2009, Johnny Depp, Christian Bale, Billy Crudup, David Wenham, Marion Cotillard, Stephen Graham, Stephen Lang, Channing Tatum, Giovanni Ribisi, Stephen Dorff) – Classic Movie Review 3353

Twinkling with dangerous devil-may-care charm, Johnny Depp impresses as public enemy number one John Dillinger in Michael Mann’s heart-pounding 2009 epic biopic of the Depression-era bank robber who became a celebrity criminal and number one target of the FBI and its top agent Melvin Purvis (Christian Bale).

The tale of Dillinger’s incredible jailbreaks and bank robberies – and how he and his gang played cat and mouse with Purvis’ men in wild chases and shootouts – is told in robust, in-your-face style, with no letup in the gunfire and slayings – which could be either exciting or depressing, according to taste. So, although there’s no romanticism there, the crowd-pleasing script makes a charismatic folk-hero of violent killer Dillinger and clearly sympathises with his gang, while portraying Purvis and FBI boss J Edgar Hoover (Billy Crudup) as very nasty pieces of work.

Though the movie takes itself far too seriously for its real weight and offers no new take on the oft-chronicled Dillinger, there are many imaginative (some probably fanciful) touches and lots of brilliant bursts of exciting action. Mann’s digital, hand-held film-making style that suited Collateral (2004) so well seems jarringly out of place in the Thirties setting that’s otherwise so beautifully conjured up in a highly impressive production packed with period atmosphere.

Some of the roles seem cut down to nothing. Whatever happened to Channing Tatum’s Pretty Boy Floyd, Giovanni Ribisi’s Alvin Karpis and Stephen Dorff’s Homer Van Meter? But Marion Cotillard (Oscar winner for La Vie En Rose) makes something quite appealing of a thinly sketched role as Dillinger’s girlfriend Billie Frechette, Stephen Graham’s crazed Baby Face Nelson attracts attention and Stephen Lang is a revelation as Charles Winstead, the agent who brings Dillinger down.

It’s good to have the gangster movie back on screen again – and this is sturdy, sterling stuff.

Also in the cast are David Wenham as Harry ‘Pete’ Pierpont, Christian Stolte as Charles Makley, James Russo as Walter Dietrich, John Judd as Turnkey, Michael Vieau as Ed Shouse and Wesley Walker as Jim Leslie.

The story is also told in Dillinger (1945), with Lawrence Tierney, Edmund Lowe and Anne Jeffreys, and in John Milius’s Dillinger (1973), with Warren Oates, Ben Johnson, Michelle Phillips and Cloris Leachman.

© Derek Winnert 2016 Classic Movie Review 3353

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