Public Enemies Movie Review

Public Enemies



Director: Michael Mann
Writer(s): Ronan Bennett and Michael Mann

Starring: Johnny Depp, Christian Bale



There was a booming crime wave in the 1930's and the notorious John Dillinger was at the top of the game. Director Michael Mann who is known for his work on Collateral, Miami Vice, and Heat now brings us this movie on the life of John Dillinger (Depp).

The movie also stars Christian Bale as Melvin Purvis who had set out to capture and bring to justice John Dillinger. Under the watch of J. Edgar Hoover who wanted to keep a clean cut image, Purvis (Bale) realized he would need to rely on street tactics and with so employees the right team to do as such.

Michael Mann has done a remarkable job with this movie, and it has been quite some time since a really well constructed gangster movie has come along. I know that Christian Bale has been all the talk of the acting world lately, and I do enjoy a lot of the work of Christian Bale but I just do not feel he is quite the caliber of say Johnny Depp. The more that directors choose to use Bale along side of better established actors such as Johnny Depp & Heath Ledger one begins to notice that he is not quite in that upper class of acting. Bale however does do a good enough job at making his character believable in this movie, however I feel he may have been the weaker point of the movie itself. Johnny Depp however exerts his brilliance in his role as John Dillinger. In fact I will go out on a limb here and say that Johnny Depp is one of the first men that I can give the nod to and say he is deserving of an Oscar nomination for his role.

This movie should not be looked over when it comes to what ones you choose to watch. Public Enemies is a movie of class and excitement. The movie possesses all the right qualities and even manages to touch the heart of the viewers. I know that I saw some crying eyes in the theater as my girlfriend and I watched this movie, and I am certain they were not the only ones around the world that shed those tears. Public Enemies has it all and hopefully will find a way into your ever growing movie collection.

My Rating: 85%