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Rating: 7/10 (6 August 2009)

He's the master of the shootout. Wherever there's banks to be robbed, gun chambers to be emptied, or bodies to be riddled with bullets, Michael Mann is your go-to guy. A director of slick, stylish thrillers since the early 1980s, his pictures have often been tainted by their own knowing trendiness – and 'Public Enemies (2009)' is certainly no exception – but, damn, can the man engineer a shootout! Mann's craft reached its creative peak with 'Heat (1995),' memorably pitting Robert De Niro against Al Pacino, but his work in the new decade has not been without interest. 'Collateral (2004)' was a thrilling role-reversal for leading man Tom Cruise, and the turgid, aimless 'Miami Vice (2006)' was at least partly redeemed by an excellent climactic shootout. Why tell the story of John Dillinger? Perhaps Mann was simply entranced by the idea of a half-dozen Tommy Guns blazing at once. His approach to the material isn't exactly graceful, but, in his own way, he's done it some justice.
For about a year during the Great Depression, John Dillinger (Johnny Depp) was Public Enemy #1. A multiple murderer and bank-robber, he escaped from jail on two occasions, and – along with such outlaws as Bonnie & Clyde and "Baby Face" Nelson – dominated national headlines with his audacious and charismatic escapades. The Federal Bureau of Investigation, still in its infancy under director J. Edgar Hoover (Billy Crudup), struggled repeatedly to keep up with Dillinger, who had acquired something of a "Robin Hood" image in the public eye. It fell to cool, methodical F.B.I. agent Melvin Purvis (Christian Bale) to apprehend the fugitive dead or alive, and on July 22, 1934, he finally succeeded. Depp's cocky portrayal of Dillinger is charming and entertaining, but the film expends little energy in exploring the man himself, content with vague allusions to Dillinger's loyalty towards colleagues and his affections for a pretty French girl (Marion Cotillard). At times, Mann seems very tempted to glorify his central criminal, painting the F.B.I. agents (especially Hoover) as incompetent and conceited.
And now for my most predictable complaint. Despite the film's strengths, 'Public Enemies' is marred by Mann's distinctive brand of stylisation – most specifically, his decision to film in high-definition digital video. While I am not averse in principle to the use of digital video in a period-piece (Fincher's 'Zodiac (2007)' used the technology quite well), I feel that a director's use of equipment should not distract from the story he is trying to tell. Used wisely, digital technology is able to capture images every bit as good as traditional 35mm film, but Mann couples this digital video with a shaky hand-held camera. The result is not unlike an episode of "The Bill." This stylisation – which worked so well in 'Collateral' because of its contemporary urban setting – is so unconventionally anachronistic that it wrenches the viewer from the reality of the film: in a moment, I was suddenly aware of the director and his cameraman crouching in the corner of the room, filming an actor playing a role. In his pursuit of gritty reality, Mann paradoxically exposes his hand to the audience.