Despite inaccuracies, 'Enemies' is a decent film

Rating: 6/10 (4 July 2009)

As both a film critic and a student of history, I always find myself watching movies a bit keener when the subject matter is based on "a true story." And the newest Universal effort, "Public Enemies," directed by Michael Mann ("Collateral," "Miami Vice"), is certainly supposed to be based on facts - of some sort.
And while the layman on the street may not know the condition of crime in the early 1930s, I'd like to think that - thanks to some intense reading and studying - I do.
The film, starring a great cast including Oscar nominee Johnny Depp, Oscar winner Marion Cotillard ("En Vie La Rose"), Christian "Dark Knight" Bale and Billy Cruddup ("Big Fish"), among others, tells the last year of the life of notorious Midwest bandit/murderer/bank robber John Dillinger, the nation's first Public Enemy No.1.
Unlike the 1975 made-for-TV movie, "Melvin Purvis, G-Man," where Warren Oates played him more psychotic and gregarious, Depp's Dillinger is more brooding and introspective. There's a brief explanation of his hatred of the law ("I held up a grocery store in Mooresville, Indiana, and got 10 years for a $50 dollar take," he says to reporters).
That's the first inaccuracy. In reality, he and a partner clubbed the store's owner with a lead pipe and got away with $550.
Anyway, the picture opens with Dillinger and members of his gang, including Homer Van Meter (Stephen Dorff), John Hamilton (Jason Clarke) and Harry Pierpont (David Wenham), breaking out of the Indiana State Penitentary at Michigan City and then robbing a series of banks in Chicago.
Dillinger meets and falls in love with Billie Frenchetti (her real name was Evelyn, but I won't quibble here), a hat check girl of dubious repute played by the lovely Cotillard. The chemistry between the two is very strong and the love feels genuine, but I couldn't wait for their loves scenes to end so we could get back to the film.
Meanwhile, FBI director J. Edgar Hoover (a very fine performance by Cruddup) installs Agent Melvin Purvis (Bale) as the new Chicago bureau chief, mainly based on the fact that Purvis has just killed Charles "Pretty Boy" Floyd. The only problem here is that Floyd was killed on Oct. 21, 1934, almost four months AFTER Dillinger died and it wasn't just Purvis who felled him but several East Liverpool, Ohio police officers, as well.
Dillinger is arrested and imprisoned in the Crown Pointe, Indiana jail run by a woman, Sheriff Lillian Holley, who claims it's the "strongest" gaol in the state. it isn't and Dillinger adds to his legend and promptly escapes using a wooden gun. He robs more banks, but the feds are following his every move. Still, Purvis and his agents make mistakes which allow him to escape over and over again.
At the Little Bohemia resort in Wisconsin, FBI men seemingly have him trapped again, but instead the G-men kill a couple innocent guys and Dillinger gets away yet again. In this sequence, the agents do kill Van Meter and George "Baby Face" Nelson (Stephen Graham), but once again, the chronology here is off. Van Meter was killed in St. Paul, Minnesota a full month AFTER Dillinger, while Nelson was shot by two agents (whom he managed to kill himself) in the outskirts of Chicago on Nov. 28, 1934.
There is also a sequence where Dillinger walks into a Chicago police station and visits the "Dillinger Patrol" office, snooping around and even conversing with some of the officers there before walking out. Whether this really happened or not is speculative, but it seems pretty far-fetched to me.
While this was quite irritating at times, I nevertheless managed to put these rather huge mistakes in the timeline out of my mind because the acting, direction, period costumes and set designs were so well done. Depp, Cruddup and Cotillard really shine here, and there is no doubt one or more of these will be nominated for some kind of award later on.
The final scenes leading to Dillinger's death (and I'll issue a slight spoiler alert even though most people know that he did indeed die) at the Biograph Picture Show in Chicago are riveting, however, and have a slight "Godfather," "Untouchables" vibe.
Another admirable effort was the work on the soundtrack, which even though feature some modern artists doing 1930s tunes, had some Billie Holliday to make things better. And, with 10 Best Picture nominations instead of five, look for "Public Enemies" to get a nod, as well.
Despite some flaws (aside from the ones I mentioned), this is still a noteworthy picture for several reasons. It's a period piece that will appeal the the public, not unlike "Bonnie & Clyde," "Chinatown" and "Untouchables" (although it is nowhere near as great as those pictures), and it may interest younger film fans to read up and research these so-called "true" stories.
And that cannot hurt at all.