Mann and Depp's rendering of Dillinger's last night, spent in and outside of a Chicago movie theater, attains the soaring intensity of hard-guy opera. On-screen at the Biograph, Clark Gable, the gangster anti-hero of Manhattan Melodrama, says that if he can't live the way he wants, he should die the way he wants. Depp gives Dillinger's reaction to Gable's fatalism the sting of epiphany. Public Enemies sees the public relations that went into the Dillinger image, but still manages to imbue him with stature and mystery. Public Enemies proves that emotional truth is what becomes a legend most.
Public Enemies
(Universal Pictures) Starring Johnny Depp, Christian Bale and Marion Cotillard. Directed by Michael Mann. Rated R for violence and some language. Time 133 minutes
