MOVIE REVIEW - Public Enemies

Just in time for the holiday weekend, Johnny Depp steps into the spotlight with Director Micheal Mann's Public Enemies. A 2 hour and 30 minute depiction of the end of the John Dillinger era in the early 1930's.

Dillinger (Depp) was the first Public Enemy Number One, as termed by J. Edgar Hoover, and was the final straw in getting the United States to create the FBI as we know it today. PE Takes place at the zenith of Dillinger's ruthless bank robbing career during the Great Depression. It's the story of a bank robber, clearly the last of his breed. The world has finally caught up to run-of-the-mill bank robbers, and they can't keep up. Technology (crude as it seems today) has taken over. There is a new breed of crime fighter too. More skilled, savvy, and ruthless themselves. Christian Bale is Melvin Purvis. He is charged with bringing in, or killing Dillinger by Hoover himself.

PE makes a good case for the complicated man that was Dillinger. True, he was a charming, sometimes affable young man, who too understood the ever growing media. He used them to create public sympathy for him in the papers. The Dillinger legend continues to grow even to this day, but this movie doesn't make the fatal flaw. In the end, Dillinger was a ruthless, shrewd, bank robber, and eventual cold blooded killer.

This is a big movie in every way. Long, intense, and involved. Sometimes a bit too involved. Lots of twists and turns, and tons of gun play. Action is sporadic, but long actiony scenes when they get around to it. A well used soundtrack compliments Depp's big performance, and a well cast around him make PE a good movie. But not a great movie. It's length is its weak link. A fine finish, but takes way too long to get there.

Public Enemies. Good. Not great!