Public Enemies

The movie posters had been splashed across the cinema and around town for too long, so this drew me to the film directed by Michael Mann. I had seen Heat previously, and I enjoyed that film intensely, so I had an idea that the film would have some credibility behind it, unlike a film that I have seen recently...
Anyway, Public Enemies is about the first Number One Public Enemy in America, John Dillinger, played by Johnny Depp. Excellent performance by one of the best actors of his generation. He really cared for the role that he played, and this was evident in its execution. Dillinger was famous for robbing banks, and being a "gentleman's" criminal, as it was seen in the media that he was robbing from the corrupt rich, and sending out a message to America. He reached the popularity heights of a rock star, and this is shown where he is about to be taken into custody, and people have lined the streets just to get a good look at the man!
Along with his gang, he systematically takes out banks, but before long, the police finally step up their search for him, as they were being labelled a mockery. They are led by Melvin Purvis
(played by Christian Bale) as they try to hunt down this criminal with a force that is not really up to scratch ( I was reminded of the film The Untouchables at times throughout the movie, as common mistakes were made).
Early on, Dillinger sees a beautiful woman, and sets out to make her his, and her name is Billie Frechette (Marion Cotillard). He feels differently about this woman than any of his previous courts, and feels like he would do anything for her. A large chun of the movie is dedicated to the romance between these two, and her growing panic for her and his safety. It can be said that this movie is quite slow paced, and clocks in at about 2 and a half hours, but the action scenes more than make up for it. I believe that Mann was trying to make it more than the average action film, and make you care for the characters, annd for me, at least, it did.
However, some of the police force and some of Dillinger's gang were not fleshed out enough for me, and so when they met their ends, you couldn't care as much for them as you could if they had been given more of a backstory.
Spoilers alert!!
Finally, when Dillinger meets his end, I thought he would have gone out more in a guns blazing type of way, but I think this is for the better because for films these days, we are expecting the Hollywood glitz and spectacle, but we must accept difference in the films if we want to see this trend die off. I prefer the way the film ended than if it had been one intense shootout. It made more of a statement to me, and even though he was a criminal, it made me care for him more.
Even though Bale is given a large portion of the film from his point of view, I always felt that the movie was taken from the angle of Dillinger, so you were rooting for the bad guys even at the very end, and at some parts the gangsters looked better people that some of the cops ( especially with the woman torture scene-if you've seen the moie you will know what I'm talking about.).
I would give this film an 8/10.
Thanks very much for reading.