Catch Him if You Can!!

Picture this its 1933 times are hard and people are desperate. people are suffering and crime is on the rise. As for John Dillinger (played by Johnny Depp), he is being brought to Indiana State Prison by his "partner in crime" John 'Red' Hamilton (Jason Clarke) disguised as a prisoner. Moments later the jailbreak occurs and the life of crime begins.

Public Enemies is one of those films where yes we already know what is going to happen, but it is all about how the story unfolds. Its amazing how someone such as John Dillinger was smart enough to exploit and dominate the press into creating an era which we would learn to be called "the public enemy era" (1931-34). In the little over 2 hours of this film we get a chance to get a microscopic view of the life of Public Enemy #1 John Dillinger. You get the opportunity to find out WHO this man is and not necessarily WHAT he did. To a degree there is this sense of a cat and mouse aspect that could have been stronger, nonetheless still good. Just think about the power that one man can have over so many people, Dillinger was able impact not just a state but a country.

I will be honest with you I never really have any complaints with Johnny depp as an actor, he makes each role that he plays in so believable. In many instances he can't go wrong. Christian Bale did a decent job playing the hand-picked FBI agent. There were however times when he was a bit dry but he was able to sustain till the end. When watching this movie you will see many familiar faces and some that you may not know, and that I think works in its favor. When you get too many big names the movie can explode and then it is not worth seeing. In the end your finished product is that of a beautifully shot and edited movie with a lot of promise. Plus you get plenty of the shoot-'em-up style action that is to be expected along with a spice of "historical romance."

All in all the story was interesting, good action, and fantastic cinematography BUT it still seemed as though something was still missing....Hmmmm....


Grade: B