I went to see Public Enemies today. It is a really good movie overall.
The movie deals with the war on crime, mostly against bank robbers, that J. Edgar Hoover started in the early 1930's, with the most attention give to John Dillinger. Hoover assigns agent Melvin Purvis to lead the hunt for Dillinger. A woman named Billie becomes involved with Dillinger, which also causes problems for her.
Dillinger is already a well known criminal when the movie starts, though some of the bank robberies he committed are dealt with during the movie. A few other well known bank robbers like Pretty Boy Floyd and Baby Face Nelson are in the movie, though not as much. Some scenes do move a bit slower, but the pace moves along at a good speed for the most part. the subject is very interesting and made for an entertaining movie. The movie is based on a book. I haven't read the book, though I did see it a few days ago. It sounds like the book has a broader focus than the movie, covering the other bank robbers more and not just focusing on Dillinger. From some research I did after watching the movie, it seems like the order of some events was changed.
There is a decent amount of action in the movie, mostly provided by various shoot outs. The action scenes work well for the most part, though there shaky camera work does turn up in them, which I find very annoying. The violence does get graphic at times, but it fits for the story. Dillinger, his men, and the agents after them are all heavily armed and most of them don't hesitate to shoot. The agents - from the Bureau of Investigation, which became the FBI a little while after the events shown in the movie - were quick to shoot first and ask questions later. Some of them were very willing to beat or torture information about of suspects. One agent basically beat the hell out of a woman trying to get information, which was disturbing to see. Hoover had basically given his approval for that type of interrogation earlier, but Purvis didn't seem to agree with that..at least where it came to the woman.
The acting is absolutely wonderful, especially from Johnny Depp and Christian Bale. Depp became Dillinger and made the character come to life. Bale wasn't in as much of the movie, but I think he did really well as Purvis. In Terminator: Salvation, Bale ended up using a voice for John that is very similar to what he used for Batman, especially in a few scenes. That didn't happen in this movie. I haven't seen Marion Cotillard in anything else before, but she did very well as Billie. J. Edgar Hoover came across as a bit arrogant and was willing to do whatever he felt was necessary to make his Bureau look good.
I really liked this movie. Fans of Johnny Depp should definitely give it a chance.
I did get a review posted on Epinions if anyone wants to take a look.
Public Enemies
