There have been many gangster/mobster films to have come and gone through the course of time. All have seemingly had the slick production values, bombastic scores, and thousands upon thousands of bullets blazing through a dark night. These certain attributes certainly work their way throughout Michael Mann's "Public Enemies", but there is something different about Mann's gangster flick: it offers a tender side to the American gangster.
But, before we get to that point let's talk about the film as a whole. The film opens up in 1933 as we follow bank robber John Dillinger (Johnny Depp) breaking out of a prison with relative ease. From there he robs a few banks and through his unscrupulous actions, catches the eye of J. Edgar Hoover (Billy Crudup),whose rather newly founded organization (something called the FBI) is desperate to make Dillinger a defining catch. From this comes the introduction of Melvin Purvis (Christian Bale) the man assigned to lead the FBI to glory and bring John Dillinger to justice. This sets off a game of cops and robbers between Purvis and Dillinger. This type of story, with both ends of the law caught in a game of cat and mouse, isn't new territory for Mann who explored such a tale in his crime epic "Heat". Granted his explorations into the relationship between the law and unlawful was much more on point in "Heat", Mann still delivers an interesting, if not great perspective on those who enforce laws and those who break them.
Of course aside from the law based tug of war Mann has crafted, a lot of credit must be given to Bale and Depp who create fascinating and what seem to be accurate portrayals of their characters. Bale is great as Purvis, a man who finds himself increasingly adjusting his own morals to make the ends justify the means. Bales counterpart Depp is pretty good too. As a matter of fact, Depp is so charismatic and charming, that he makes it extremely hard not to root for John Dillinger. Depp's great performance was further cemented when I watched a highlight reel of Dillinger and I must say, Depp didn't play Dillinger anymore than he completely channeled him. Yet, the most interesting aspect of "Public Enemies" (and oddly enough where the best performance comes from) is not entirely on the chase of John Dillinger. No, as I alluded to earlier, it's the romantic side of Dillinger. Amidst all the bank robberies and the vicious hunt by the FBI, Dillinger meets a woman by the name of Billie Frechette who is played by Marion Cotillard. Cotillard without a doubt has the best performance in the film as she delivers the emotional core to the final moments of Dillinger's saga. Her character not only allows us to see how vicious and desperate the FBI was in catching Dillinger, but also to see a sensitive, humanistic side of Dillinger. I'm going to go even further and say that the best scenes were not the bank robberies or a gun fight. Instead, the best scenes were between Cotillard and Depp (Billie and John), as they are full with great chemistry, romance, and tragedy.
But don't worry about "Public Enemies" being a 'soft' and completely sensitive film. Despite my many uses of the word "romantic", there is plenty of violence and battle wounds to list this film as a 'gangster film'. Yet, there is a little more at stake here than time capsule-esque set pieces and gun battles. There are questions about the law, but most importantly "Public Enemies" is more focused on humanizing the legend of John Dillinger versus sensationalizing it which is something most gangster films fail to even consider.
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