Retelling of the Dillinger Legend with a Modern Perspective *spoilers*

Rating: 8/10 (1 July 2009)

Public Enemies is a good, solid biopic of John Dillinger--with action, romance, good acting, and metaphors abounding about the nature of good and bad. I'm not sure how close director Michael Mann stuck to the facts of the story of John Dillinger, but he sure adds his trademark realism. We are brought into the world of Dillinger--the pay-offs, obtaining the cars, his ties to organized crime, his bank robbing. We are brought into the world of a forming FBI--the first uses of wire tapping and hard tactics to do whatever it takes to get their guy, Dillinger.
Mann picked the right actor for each role, knowing the particular strengths of both Christian Bale and Johnny Depp to bring what they did to each character. Bale brought a kind of stoicism and presence to the character of Purvis, which I don't think Depp could have. And vice versa, I think Depp played Dillinger well, and I think Bale was suited better to the Purvis character. Depp added an impish charm to Dillinger, and I was impressed by his acting, not being a fan of his acting at times. I think both men, too, were probably better suited to the physicality of their real life characters.
Bale plays Purvis as a new sort of G-man--able to think about the logistics of catching the criminal (wait until he buys a new coat; wiretapping) and he has the ability to use the muscle behind it (being a sharp shooter). Purvis wants to do a good job and meet his objectives--Bale says very little in the movie, but there is much in his face about how uncomfortable he feels when he ventures into morally questionable territory (basically, IMO, Dillinger is executed). Dillinger is just a simple man, really, who wants to be with Billie and have money--he's not bad, only in the fact that he'll kill anyone who gets in his way. He's made uncomfortable by Baby Face Nelson's joy and glee in violence and murder, but he doesn't really have a moral dilemma like Purvis does. In Public Enemies, Purvis and Dillinger are both the heroes while Nelson and Hoover (played well by Billy Crudup) are both the villains.
We can see the difference between Purvis and Dillinger during the confrontation scene at the jail. Dillinger is talkative and doesn't waste time on telling Purvis what he thinks of him, but Purvis says very little and just stares him down. During that scene (almost reminiscent of the scene between Agent Starling and Dr. Lecter in Silence of the Lambs), Dillinger questions Purvis on how it is to see someone shot down and dying....he knows that Purvis doesn't enjoy it. Throughout the movie, we see Purvis looking at each person (outlaw and G-man alike) shot down and dying. Towards the end of the film, we see Dillinger with one of his men wounded and dying--he optimistically refuses to believe the man is dying and tries to patch him up.
My favorite part of the movie was the romance between Billie Frenchette and Dillinger. Although most of it was played out in shallow clichés of first dances or witty repartee, it rings true. Franchette is a good girl being swept off her feet by a charming, good man who just happens to rob banks and kill people for a living. Frenchette confronts Dillinger with the inevitable--that he will eventually be caught or killed--but the cocksure Dillinger doesn't think he will be. Marion Cotillard does a good job with this role--their relationship is the key to making Dillinger a sympathetic character in the movie.
Character actress Lili Taylor plays the female sheriff of one of the prisons. Mann makes some surprising feminist commentary in this film--perhaps because one of the co-writer is female. We also have the interrogation scene of Billie being beaten by a brutal G-man adhering to Hoover's order to do anything necessary to make the witnesses talk. The one woman working at the FBI (secretary?) brings it to Purvis's attention when he arrives back at the office--he puts a stop to it in a very calm way. This is one of the key scenes that highlights the moral dilemma of who is the real criminal here--and is part of film's contemporary social messages that apply to our times today--in the time of such things as the 'Patriot Act.'
Public Enemies is an entertaining (sometimes slow) movie which can be enjoyed on many different levels.