Public Enemies Review

Miami Vice was a mistake. Ali wasn't as epic as it wanted to be. And Collateral? It was just an advert for HD cameras and the surprising versatility of Tom Cruise. But none of this seems to matter so much now. Because Michael Mann has made Public Enemies, and all of his previous miscalculations can be forgiven.

Not that the astonishing power of his latest picture is immediately apparent. For the first 20 minutes, Public Enemies is but another good-looking but not terribly involving Michael Mann movie. A well executed prison break, lots of nice looking suits, some typically hard to understand dialogue - for the first reel, you could be watching any one of the director's lesser films. But then Public Enemies gets its hooks into you, and it doesn't let go until the rather sentimental final scene.

So what makes it work? Well, the story doesn't hurt. A man that Hollywood has been fascinated with for the better part of 90 years, John Dillinger has already featured in four official biopics. The guy who robbed the rich and - occasionally - gave to the poor, Dillinger was either the most wanted man in America or the guy who dared to turn over the institutions that wrecked the lives of the average American. Folk hero or public enemy number one - Dillinger was larger-than-life, as were his associates Homer Van Meter and Baby Face Nelson, and his arch-rival Melvin Purvis, a G-man hired to bring in the brigand by none other than FBI chief J Edgar Hoover.