Public Enemies review

The film revolves around the infamous John Dillinger and his gang during an golden era of bank robbery in the early 1930's. The cast is excellent, particularly Christian Bale as the FBI agent in charge of the manhunt. Johnny Depp portrays Dillinger with smooth charisma and the eye candy for the male viewers is provided for by Oscar winning French actress Marion Cotillard. Ooh la la, is she pretty! Michael Mann's direction is stylish and slick, and he excels in the action scenes which are exciting and realistic. The log cabin shoot out is reminiscent of the climatic gunfight in Heat. The choice to use digital instead of film is interesting and possibly open to criticism. To capture that 1930's period feel most directors would use film whereas digital is more effective when dealing with modern urban settings such as modern day Los Angles in Collateral. The cinematography is very modern and at times the camera moves around like it was a documentary but it is effective in an unusual way. There are other interesting aspects to Public Enemies, such as the birth of the FBI, the portrayal of Babyface Nelson (who was a real nasty piece of work, bordering on pschyopathic) and the way America dealt with its criminals (Dillinger was sentenced to 10 years in prison for robbing a store of just $50). All in all, Public Enemies is solid entertainment. 7 out of 10.