I just saw the new Michael Mann movie Public Enemies today, and I have to admit that while it wasn’t the revolutionary true crime movie that I had been hoping for, it was still a pretty interesting movie that most people would enjoy nonetheless. Based on the book of the same title by Bryan Burroughs, the film follows the criminal career of the legendary bank robber John Dillinger (played by the always excellent Johnny Depp, who bears an eerie resemblance to the robber) between 1933 and 1934 and his conflict with FBI Special Agent Melvin Purvis (played here by Christian Bale). While the original book focuses on other famous criminals as well, including Bonnie and Clyde, the movie zeroes in on Dillinger’s exploits, although there are scenes with others, such as Charles “Pretty Boy” Floyd and “Baby Face” Nelson, which prove to be of at least some importance to the plot, and manages to avoid using romantic portrayals of many historical figures. The movie is around 2 and a half hours long, and can feel a little slow at some points as a result. Mann makes up for this by making all of the action scenes very intense and using plenty of dry humor. It can also get a little difficult to follow what is happening onscreen due to the occasional use of a handheld camera, making some scenes very shaky (literally). Overall, though, I liked Public Enemies. It manages to adhere to the source material, and thus, by extension, actual history. Nobody is shown as being absolutely good or evil, but instead as being more on a sliding gray scale of morality. If you like crime movies, historical movies, or anything with Johnny Depp or Christian Bale in it, you should go see the movie as soon as you can, since you’ll be sure to enjoy it. Also, those of you who saw Watchmen earlier this year should keep their eyes open for an actor from that movie playing a small but important role in this one in a way that is 100% historically accurate.