There are many who argue that many crime dramas have to be romanticized. Why make something that is not only dangerous but also illegal look so appealing to the public eye? The reason is so we can see why so many criminals got into it in the first place. The thrill, the action, the ritzy lifestyle; all of these factors explain why these people do what they do. This is an important element of any movie, the motivation. But sadly the majority of that is missing from Michael Mann’s true crime drama ‘Public Enemies.’ We see the downside of crime, and even bits of the upside, but we never discover why these people do what they do, live how they live, or make the sacrifices to stay there. Instead we get a mildly adequate retelling of the life of one of Chicago’s most infamous gangsters, which is less then what this story deserves.

The film centers on the life of bank robber John Dillinger (Johnny Depp) and how he has turned a life of crime into a full time job. In addition to that, it has shot him up into heights of celebrity, as many sufferers of the great depression look at outlaws as modern day superheroes, taking the law into their own hands. Dillinger isn’t alone though, he teams up with other famous gangsters like Harry 'Pete' Pierpont (David Wenham), Pretty Boy Floyd (Channing Tatum) and ‘Baby Face’ Nelson (Stephen Graham), who all make a living shooting at cops and running for their lives. Dillinger’s apparently not only swift and sneaky though, he’s also a charmer, winning over a young woman named Billie Frechette (Marion Cotillard) as his girlfriend. He assures her that despite his rocky lifestyle, he would never let her get sucked in or harmed by what he does for a living (Yeah, and I just heard Miss Piggy grew wings).

All of these hoodlums are being chased by the FBI, an organization lead by J. Edgar Hoover (Billy Crudup) who appoints Melvin Purvis (Christian Bale) to put an end to this string of bank heists. Apparently Dillinger and his friends are making a mockery out of the FBI and what they stand for, so Purvis finds he has to stretch his limits and break his principles to bring in the evil doers before they harm their image any more. This doesn’t frighten Dillinger though; as many of his peers are becoming more organized and under the radar, Dillinger still thirsts for the thrill that translate into just walking into a bank and yelling “Stick em’ up.” Dillinger was no doubt an interesting study, always flaunting his face where ever he could and pleased to make comical chitchat with reporters. Any cinematic descent into what makes this man tick would of course make for an interesting piece of film making, but sadly we get little into Dillinger’s insights, strategy, or even personality.

Some of that comes from Depp’s performance, who surprisingly underplays Dillinger. In the scene where he wins over Billie to be his girlfriend, no sense of charm, class, or likeability comes through, so instead of seeing Dillinger as a charming deceiver, we see Billie as an unintel-ligent doofus. Part of that may be that Depp is very good at playing characters, but not people. Edward Scissorhands, Jack Sparrow, and so forth are all great characters, but when he plays real life people like J. M. Barrie or George Jung, he’s often very muted and not engaging. Even the people he has played well like Edward D. Wood Jr. or Hunter S. Thompson seemed like over blown characters to begin with. Because of this, it’s hard for us to identify with Dillinger or even like Dillinger; he’s played more like a dull, boring thug than a calculating smooth criminal.

But Depp isn’t the only problem. Director Michael Mann, like in his other biopic ‘Ali’ decides to start the film in the middle of the story. It opens with Dillinger breaking out an old friend who obviously had a big impact on his life. We never find out what he did to impact Dillinger’s life, what his background was, or even how they were connected. On top of that we barely get to know the other gangsters. Dillinger talks with them a lot but we’re given little to no personality or background on them (with perhaps the exception of ‘Baby Face’). There’s three elements that do make ‘Public Enemies’ enjoyable to watch though: Christian Bale as the cop pushed to the limit, Marion Cotillard as the sympathetic love interest, and the outstanding shootout scenes. Mann has always managed to pull off stunning gun battles with great detail and great suspense, and this film has a slew of them to suck you in. However it’s hard to say if that’s enough to really save it. For a criminal as fascinating and complex as Dillinger, a much more detailed and focused bio was needed. For a man who was desperate to be in the public eye, this movie does little to glorify or demonize his image.

So who’ll like it? Considering all the gunshots, car chases, and crime talk here, if you’re just looking for a very basic gangster movie but don’t need too much development for your main character, you’ll come out of this satisfied.

Who won’t like it? Anyone looking for a deep study of John Dillinger or his methods will crave much more.

My thoughts? I’ll admit for 2 ½ hour movie it went by pretty fast, so it must’ve been doing something right. I enjoyed many aspects of the film and even found large chunks very suspenseful, but the movie needed more focus, mostly on its main character. Everything that made Dillinger interesting in real life is only hinted at in ‘Public Enemies.’ His love for the press is interesting, but never delved into. The origin of his getting into crime I’m sure is fascinating, but it’s mentioned in only one sentence. And the man himself must’ve done something right to charm reporters, women, and gangsters alike, but we simply never see it, feel it, or believe it in Depp’s performance. A much more modern and developed film of this nature is ‘American Gangster,’ which doesn’t dive too deep into the criminals background but does at least allow us to identify and comprehend his motifs. ‘Public Enemies’ isn’t horrible, it’s just a weak, one thing you do not want to stress in telling the story of John Dillinger.