Dillinger’s Bloody Odyssey: Public Enemies movie review

“Public Enemies,” Michael Mann’s new mobster film, begins with an opening shot that’s so dizzying it’s amazing that the only thing on camera is a single building in the middle of nowhere.  Michael Mann is an odd director in regards to the ideas and styles that he incorporates into his movies.  For example, the lighting is intentionally natural, giving everything a cheap look in comparison to any other Hollywood film.  At the same time he feels the need to jump onto the bandwagon that “The Bourne Identity” started by using camera work that demonstrates a constant irritable shaking that makes the viewer wonder if someone else should have held it.    There really isn’t anything bad to say about “Public Enemies.” It helps that the leading man is Johnny Depp.  He provides the calm and cool exterior of a man that robs banks with precision and charms the pants off the girl in red.  What’s interesting to note is that “Public Enemies” isn’t just about Dillinger.  He’s not the only big name mobster in the film, and the mobsters aren’t the only ones in the spotlight.      Throughout the film Dillinger and his crew run into various other criminals, including a crazed Baby Face Nelson.  At the same time the story also follows the attempts of Melvin Purvis, played by Christian Bale, and the Dillinger Squad as they attempt to capture and recapture Dillinger as his crime wave continues.  Dillinger’s future is already known, the ending already written and no major historical digressions occur here.    Thematically the story focuses less on telling the most accurate portrayal of events possible and more on displaying a cycle of violence in between the cops and the mobsters that blurs any sort of definition of justice.  By the end of the film Dillinger is presented as the hero, with the police displayed as the violent villains of the story, chasing him down.    In its display of violence, the movie holds back no punches.  Every single gunshot resounds with a loud bang and every single bullet tears open whatever it makes contact with.  The brilliant sprays of bullets from the tommy guns blind the darkened scenes.  There is no noble death; everyone dies horribly, suffering through their last seconds of existence.    No matter what, “Public Enemies” is still a biopic, much like the recent “Ray” and “Walk the Line” were, only with more shooting and less singing.  There is less of a concrete storyline and more of a series of smaller plots connected by the theme of violence.  Is it a contender for an Oscar?  Maybe, but either way it is worth taking a look at when it comes out on DVD.