Public Enemies - A Michael Mann Film

Johnny Depp Stars as the Bank Robber John Dillinger

Jul 1, 2009

1933, John Dillinger's (Johnny Depp) bank robbing spree turns him into a celebrity. Young FBI agent Melvin Purvis (Christian Bale) is ordered to hunt down Dillinger.

John Dillinger served nine years in a penitentiary for drunkenly trying to rob a grocer's store. Inside he learned everything he needed from his fellow inmates to become a career criminal. On his release Dillinger went back and broke them out. Michael Mann starts his biopic with this moment and largely follows the facts about the man with a few embellishments here and there.

There are similarities with Andrew Dominik's The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007), but while Dominik's film focused on the outlaw when his best years were behind him, Mann shows us Dillinger in his prime, before recounting his fall from grace. A disastrous union with the reckless Baby Face Nelson (Stephen Graham), the burgeoning powers of the J Edgar Hoover's Federal Bureau of Investigation, and organised crime regarding bank robbers as a menace bringing heat upon their clandestine gambling activities left Dillinger with nowhere to hide.

Michael Mann's Stylish Direction Goes Hi-Def

Mann has long since proved himself a master at combining visuals and music on film. Now using a new form of Hi-Def digital technology Public Enemies looks unerringly realistic. It is considerably different to film and takes a bit of getting used to, but cinematographer Dante Spinotti, a veteran of Mann productions having lensed The Last of the Mohicans (1992) and The Insider (1999), creates some remarkable images. Whether this format is preferable to film is worthy of debate, but it certainly works here.

Johnny Depp gives one of his finest performances as John Dillinger. More recently Depp has won acclaim for prancing about as Captain Jack Sparrow in The Pirates of the Carribean movies and his bizarre turn in Tim Burton's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005), but Public Enemies reveals how subtle an actor he can be. This is Depp on Donnie Brasco (Mike Newell 1997) form. Christian Bale is perfectly cast as the tightly wound Purvis, suggesting a troubled psyche beneath his tough G-man exterior. Marion Cotillard does more than most would with a role that could have simply been eye candy.

Mann has also assembled a wonderful group of supporting players. The standout is Stephen Lang, now unrecognisable from his days in Mann's TV show Crime Story, as one of two brutally efficient Texas lawmen brought in by Purvis to toughen up his team. The other is played by former Ultimate Fighting Champ turned actor Don Frye, last seen wielding a samurai sword in the hugely entertaining Godzilla: Final Wars (Ryuhei Kitamura 2004).

The underrated Stephen Dorff plays Homer, one of Dillinger's trusted followers, while the volatile Baby Face Nelson is given considerable menace by Brit actor Stephen Graham. Fans of TV's Lost may want to keep a close look out for a brief appearance by the seriously cute Emilie De Ravin as a bank worker. Billy Crudup's weaselly J Edgar Hoover has a hint of the paranoia that would mark his reign as the FBI's leader, while reliable character actors Lilli Taylor and James Russo are as excellent as ever.

John Dillinger's Last Words

John Dillinger was gunned down outside a cinema after watching Clark Gable/William Powell movie Manhattan Melodrama (W.S. Van Dyke 1934), a scene memorably recreated by Mann for Public Enemies. Dillinger's last words were allegedly 'You got me!' but those words feel like they belong in a dime store comic. The FBI insist Dillinger died without uttering a word. Mann has the dying robber whispering a message for his imprisoned lover for the man who shot him to pass on, which he duly does. This is quite frankly preposterous, but just like the great melodramas of the 30's it works. One suspects the movie literate Dillinger would have approved.

The copyright of the article Public Enemies - A Michael Mann Film in Biopic Dramas is owned by Kevin Sturton. Permission to republish Public Enemies - A Michael Mann Film in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.