Film Rating: A

The period of time Michael Mann's Public Enemies deals with is full of stories, all of which connect in certain ways and all of which could easily be their own film. There's the story of Melvin Purvis, one of the most successful agents in the history of American Law Enforcement. There's the saga of J. Edgar Hoover and the birth of the FBI. One could tell a large story encompassing all of this and more, taking a look at all of America's public enemies from the thirties. But you wouldn't necessarily expect a movie about the time period to focus squarely on America's first "public enemy number one," John Dillinger. This is a Dillinger biopic through and through. While his story leads to the tales of Purvis and Hoover and the creation of the FBI, Dillinger is Mann's focus in the year's most fascinating film.

Biopics don't usually focus on criminals, but then again, few figures are as interesting as John Dillinger. The man is more famous for the folk stories surrounding him than for the things he actually did, and the single most amazing part of Public Enemies is how the movie shows you exactly who he really was, while simultaneously demonstrating why these folk tales and legends came to be. And the film does this without ever mentioning the Dillinger tall tales, nor taking a definitive stance on what kind of man Dillinger was. Public Enemies simply shows you the story in the way it went down, and leaves the audience to form their own conclusions on the characters and their places in history.

And that's really the best kind of storytelling there is. If you want to turn your brain off and watch flashing lights for two-and-a-half hours, go see Transformers. Going into Public Enemies not prepared to do a bit of thinking will leave you with the wrong impression of the movie. It's a visceral, visual film, one that only really becomes amazing when you start to think about things and put the pieces together yourself. That sort of interactivity and trust in the audience's intelligence is bold, but it pays off extremely well. It makes you consider the role of criminals in American history, and what the true definition of a villain is; above all, it's the only biopic I've ever seen that allows the audience to decide exactly how they individually felt about the character whose story is being told. I now have my thoughts about Dillinger, and in the hope that this review prompts other to see the film, I won't share them here. You need to go into the movie a blank slate, because that makes it all the more fascinating.

Michael Mann is a very well-respected director in Hollywood, but his films have never really done anything for me. Heat is often considered his masterpiece, but that film bored me to death and I can't for the life of me remember one thing that happened in it. His more recent thriller Collateral was one of those "good not great" movies that left me wanting more in the wrong ways, and there was nothing out there to compel me to see Miami Vice. But despite that, I do respect Mann as a director and enjoy his distinctive style. Public Enemies is the film he was always destined to make, the perfect meeting of story and director. His stylistic fingerprints are apparent on every last frame, and that's a blessing. No other director could have done this story justice.

Mann shot the film with handheld HD cameras; shot composition on this kind of camera is very different, even down to the speed at which actors seem to physically move. The look is reminiscent of a film shot for TV; it's simple and gritty. And with any other story, that kind of camerawork would be unacceptable. But this is a movie about an imperfect time concerning flawed people. The camera reflects that with its own flaws, and the simplicity of the shooting design reminds you of the simplicity of the thirties.

And yet, Mann never goes crazy with his handheld cameras. This isn't anything like one of the Bourne movies, where the camera shakes wildly through action sequences. For the most part, it's steady, occasionally zooming too quick or moving around in the action with speed. But everything is coherent and easy to assimilate. This is a character study, not an action movie, but when the action does come it's brutal and intense, and Mann captures it all wonderfully. Like I said, it's nothing like Bourne. When a shootout occurs, you can tell where everything is and understand every part of the action without having to squint or strain yourself. But the gritty, up-close-and-personal feeling that handheld gives is still there. The action is a million times more coherent than the Transformers Bayhem, and the shootouts provide some of the most thrilling set pieces of the year. The camera style has Mann's stamp on it, and it bears that stamp proudly, as it should.

Mann also has a talent for building a top-notch cast and getting terrific performances out of them; Public Enemies is no exception. Johnny Depp leads as John Dillinger in what might very well be his best performance to date. Depp makes the character both intimidating and charming at the same time, while always hiding a vulnerability beneath the surface. Depp masters every part of his body and voice for the role; this is not Jack Sparrow, and this is not Sweeney Todd. This is John Dillinger. It's a total transformation. The brilliance of his performance is personified in his subtlety; he never goes for broke and he never has a big "acting" moment. But from beginning to end, he is completely submerged in the role. I think it's finally time for the Oscars to cough up and give Depp an Academy Award, something he's deserved for a long while, but I fear the performance is far too subtle for the Oscars to recognize.

Depp owns the movie, but the supporting cast impresses as well. As Melvin Purvis, Christian Bale proves that his talents are utterly, totally wasted on a film like Terminator Salvation. Bale did a fine job running around shooting and screaming as John Conner, but any actor could do that. Here, Bale impresses in even more subtle ways than Depp, saying more with facial features or a small gesture than he does with words. The movie never draws attention or acknowledges what motivates Purvis, but it doesn't need to. You can see his motivation and determination etched in every line of Bale's face. A Supporting Actor nod is certainly in order for Bale, another actor whose Oscar love has been a long time coming.

Marion Cotillard is the only member of the main cast to have been previously recognized by the Academy Awards, and she brings the talent that won her the award to years ago to the table with her performance as Billie Frechette, the love of John Dillinger's life. Their relationship, like nearly everything in the film, is developed subtly, and Mann relies on the actor and actress to sell the relationship rather than the writing. A big part of that is Depp, but a bigger part is Cotillard. From the moment she appears on screen, you can tell why this woman is appealing to Dillinger. She and Depp don't have chemistry in the traditional sense of the word, but their relationship feels real, raw, and full of depth.

The same could be said of the movie itself. Public Enemies makes you feel as though you are watching a camera feed from eighty years ago, watching these events unfold as they really happened. The script doesn't try to sum up these characters or add depth to them-it all falls on the shoulders of the actors and the director, and they succeed brilliantly. The movie is an incredibly rewarding watch, because the more you think about it, the better it gets. A facial expression from an actor or a flourish from the camera can tell you more than dialogue ever could. Public Enemies is undoubtedly one of the year's best films (I can only say I enjoyed Pixar's Up more), and one that can't be missed.