Public Enemies Review

The most compelling reason to see this movie is the hot guys, namely Johnny Depp and Christian Bale.  I was unsure whether Johnny Depp could pull off playing John Dillinger as he was killed at 31 and Depp is currently 46.  However, Depp has such good bone structure and skin that with a little Hollywood makeup he really look 31, and makes Christian Bale look old in comparison when in reality Bale is much younger.

Once you look past the hot guys, there's not a whole lot to this film, largely because it is too long and drawn out.  Editing out an hour of this film would have made a nice, concise, and fast paced movie.  It was close to 2 1/2 long and everyone in the theather was getting bored.

Public Enemies tells the story of John Dillinger and his gang's bank robbing sprees during the Great Depression.  His story is mirrored by that of J. Edgar Hoover's efforts to launch a nationwide crime force that would become the FBI.  The fledgling organizations first priority is to apprehend Dillinger, and Hoover puts Christian Bale's character Melvin Purvis in charge of this task.

The movie has some really good supporting actors including Stephen Dorff and David Wenham.  Marior Cotillard's character evolves into a major character by the end of the movie as Dillinger's love interest, Billie Frechette.

The level of historical detail in the locations, sets, costumes, hair, makeup, cars, and hardware (aka guns) is the best part of the movie.

The ending was very anticlimactic.  If you know anything about Dillinger, you know what's coming so there's no real surprise, except for why it took you so long to get to it.