DVDs in Review

Public Enemies

Title: Public Enemies (2009)

Release date: November 2 2009

Certificate: 15

Format: Reviewed on DVD, available on Blu-ray

DVD RRP: £19.99

Rating: 4/5

Michael Mann's 'Public Enemies' casts the ever-charismatic Johnny Depp as the ever-charismatic bank robber John Dillinger - the American depression era's number one public enemy; a man of lethal talent driven by an obsession with celebrity stardom that dangerously threatens to blow his cover.

And on the other side is the law - led by the straight-laced Melvin Purvis played by the straight-laced Christian Bale. Business is business for both sides of the story. Dillinger robs banks, and it's Purvis' job to bring him down.

Mann has tread this cops and robbers territory before with Pacino and De Niro in 'Heat' - a far more ambitious, multi-layered and all round better film. 'Heat' examined the connections between both sides, and in one infamous scene, suggested that they are not polar opposites. In fact they both have dreams and fears, blurring our previous misconceptions.

'Public Enemies' is far less psychological. Indeed, it is far less human as well. These are men defined by their careers, instead of defining their own careers. 'Public Enemies' is cold, professional and while this makes it seem shallow at first, it is actually an interesting trait for a film to have.

Dillinger is a man inspired by what he sees in movies based on people like him. He loves robbing banks and planning the next robbery. He simply isn't capable of developing a retirement plan. Nor is Purvis. Both men seem invulnerable and it's this front, this apparently bullet-proof disguise that Mann propels onto the screen in startling, realist clarity.

We see two leaders whose circumstances don't allow them to find their true potential, resulting in their straight faced masks of apparent strength. But in actuality, they have intriguing weaknesses.

Purvis' team is inexperienced and easily foiled, while Dillinger's crew is riddled with hot heads. More dangerous than that is the fact that Dillinger has made the ultimate criminal error - he has fallen for a woman (played brilliantly by recent Oscar winner Marion Cotillard, fresh off her triumphant portrayal of Edith Piaf in 'La Vie En Rose').

She isn't just a moll - she is the only person that Dillinger can let his weaknesses become apparent to, and this character bridges the two impenetrable worlds of cops and robbers - Purvis' team intends to use her.

Mann's film is steeped in history (and stunning attention to detail). We see a modern day Robin Hood who is brutal and violent. We see the birth of the FBI to tackle men like Dillinger, and the cracks that go with a new national organisation. We see men pinned down by society's labels who come out shooting. We see public enemies but we are not sure which ones are which.