This review maybe a little late, but my girlfriend isn’t — life is good.

I’ve been a Dillinger fan since Professor Don Riggs of Drexel University explained the “Dillinger Relic” in Science Fiction Literature class, and the publication which shared its name, DR. This interest was backed up in several interviews with Kurt Vonnegut where he discusses his adoration for the America bank robber. So, Public Enemies was pretty much a sure thing for me. While a violent action film, the movie carries a significant moral question that is present but not overwhelming.

I saw Public Enemies, which opened July 1, last night and was impressed.  This is the latest film by writer, director, and producer Michael Mann. His credits include Heat, The Insider, and Collateral. Much like Mann’s previous work this film left me feeling satisfied and slightly unsettled at the same time. I can’t define this quality to my own satisfaction, so I’d imagine it’s a little irritating to read about; but Mann’s movies leave me with similar feeling as Hitchcock’s.

When the film is over I stand up and comprehend what just happened, but in the pit of my stomach something isn’t right with the world. In Heat I attributed the feeling to the final shoot out and manner in which it was shot, and in Collateral I felt the uneasiness was from enjoying a Tom Cruise performance for the first time in several years. With The Insider I was stumped. However, after Public Enemies I get it – Mann puts cracks in the edifice of normalcy. He doesn’t tear it down, shoot it, and stuff into the trunk of a car like Tarantino, but the reality in Mann’s films is heightened to let you see something is tragically wrong with society without forcing social commentary.

In Public Enemies Mann explores the concept of law in a (reasonably) balanced way. We see Dillinger, played by Johnny Depp, and FBI G-man Melvin Purvis, Christian Bale, square off as they chase, dodge, and fight their way across the Midwest. The good and bad are shown in both characters, as is the toll their life styles wears on them. Dillinger watches his friends die in gun fight after gun fight, the combat sequences were similar to Heat: clean easy to watch and follow with minimal (if any shaky-cam). While Purvis does continual battle with the types of law men that surround him. The brutality, though displayed differently, is even handed. I didn’t feel Mann leaned toward lawmen or outlaws; instead he simply showed their practices for what they were. As I result, I found myself flip-flopping between two protagonists. There was never a point where I was convinced either Dillinger or Purvis was the lead.

The moral relativism architected by Mann is carried by an excellent group of actors. Depp and Bale deliver great performances, but even smaller roles were solid talent including: David Wenham, Faramir from Lord of the Rings and Dilios from 300; Channing Tatum, Duke in this summer’s upcoming film G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra; and Giovanni Ribisi, Boiler Room and Flight of the Phoenix.

The two characters who stand out most are Baby Face Nelson, played by Stephen Graham, and Special Agent Charles Winstead, played by Stephen Lang, Lt. Gen. Thomas ‘Stonewall’ Jackson from Gods and Generals.  Dillinger and Purvis are portrayed (in my humble opinion) as two men one step removed from a moral center respective to their independent views. Baby Face Nelson and Charles Winstead are the extremes. Nelson is shown as a psychopath: he likes killing, he is abusive to strangers, mocking and violent at every turn. The character was onscreen for few minutes, one bank robbery and gun fight, but his mannerisms are burned into this viewer. Conversely, Winstead is ruled by what he thinks is right to an extreme, even honoring Dillinger’s last wish by delivering a message to Billie, Dillinger’s incarcerated girlfriend. It’s worth noting that the act is accented by his unwillingness to share Dillinger’s last words with anyone else, including Purvis.

The moral argument is given depth by similarities the characters share: they are all involved in crime, one way or another, they are all killers, and they all face death directly in the movie. Additionally, each character has a definable comfort level with brutality they face and participate in. From Nelson’s giddy laughter and shouting to Purvis’ sickened stares. Yet their actions are portrayed as a part of their nature.

Another layer is added by Billie, Marion Cotillard, and J. Edgar Hoover, Billy Crudup. Billie, Dillinger’s love interest, is shown as an innocent, relatively speaking. Yes, she loves a murderous bank robber. Yes, she harbors him and protects him out of that love. But, she is just a coat check girl. She doesn’t carry a gun and she doesn’t kill anyone. And let’s face it, if loving Johnny Depp is wrong who wants to be right? The other side of the spectrum is Hoover, portrayed as a masterminding manipulator who will stop at nothing to get what he wants, but he doesn’t carry a gun or kill anyone either. However, no one loves him. He pushes and abuses his personal, he uses the media to bully his way through check and balances, and on a good day he doesn’t ruin someone’s life for kicks. No one wants to love Hoover. Though Mann did use his discretion and left out all cross-dressing jokes.

Public Enemies is a summer action movie mixed with the emotional pull I expect from a fall release. It’s both highly enjoyable and engaging enough to be more than a blockbuster shoot ‘em up.

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