Public Enemies

Whenever Michael Mann makes a crime film, there's a hell-of-a-lot for him to live up to. For, in the mid 90's he made one of the best ever: HEAT. With PUBLIC ENEMIES, Mann does not try to give us a great crime movie, but rather, show us one of the most intriguing periods of crime. With PUBLIC ENEMIES we meet and realize the brutality of the likes of: Pretty Boy Floyd (disgustingly killed at the start of the film), Baby Face Nelson, and John Dillinger. The film mostly follows Dillinger, who is played with a smooth face and mean temper by Johnny Depp. Christian Bale plays Melvin Purvis: a hard-ass lawman who'll take criminals dead or alive. We follow the escapades and jail-escapes of Dillinger, and this is all pretty entertaining and interesting, but it is the degeneration of the character's surroundings, and how he reacts to it which is so intriguing. Mann uses striking imagery that never calls attention to itself, and a blunt reaction to violence. This works brilliantly, making PUBLIC ENEMIES a great American film.
Public Enemies: ★★★★