---
title: "Public Enemies"
year: 2009
kind: "film"
canonical: "https://film.one/film/public-enemies"
fi1m_id: "public-enemies"
imdb_id: "tt1152836"
tmdb_id: 11322
wikidata_id: "Q329448"
fi1m_score: 64
critics_score: 61
critics_reviews: 20
published: "2026-10-02T22:48:18.186321+00:00"
updated: "2026-10-02T22:48:18.893296+00:00"
region: "RO"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Public Enemies (2009)

Directed by Michael Mann · 2h 20m · RO 15 · Crime, History, Drama

## Identity

Public Enemies

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/film/public-enemies
- **Type:** Film
- **Fi1m ID:** public-enemies
- **IMDb ID:** tt1152836
- **TMDB ID:** 11322
- **Wikidata ID:** Q329448
- **Same entity:** https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1152836/, https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/11322, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q329448

**Fi1m score: 64** · Critics 61 from 20 reviews

*In a sentence:* Dillinger robs the bank, and Michael Mann’s camera looks as though it got there before he did

> Michael Mann’s Dillinger film is shot on digital video, so the 1930s look like last Tuesday, and the gunfights are among the best he has staged. Between them it holds Dillinger at arm’s length, and we left knowing his coat better than his mind.

## Synopsis

Indiana, 1933. John Dillinger (Johnny Depp) walks into the state penitentiary posing as a prisoner and walks out with his old crew, among them Harry ‘Pete’ Pierpont (David Wenham) and ‘Red’ Hamilton (Jason Clarke), then sets about robbing Midwestern banks in under two minutes apiece and giving the newspapers something to print. In Washington, J. Edgar Hoover (Billy Crudup) wants a federal police force and needs a famous criminal to justify it; he sends Melvin Purvis (Christian Bale), fresh from shooting a fugitive dead in an orchard, to run the Chicago office and bring Dillinger in. In a Chicago club, Dillinger meets Billie Frechette (Marion Cotillard), a hat-check girl, tells her exactly who he is, and asks her to come with him anyway.

## Review

Michael Mann has made a film about John Dillinger that tells us nothing about him he would not have said himself. It is 1933, Dillinger (Johnny Depp) is robbing banks across the Midwest, and J. Edgar Hoover (Billy Crudup) means to build a national police force on the back of catching him. Melvin Purvis (Christian Bale) is handed the job. That is the plot, and Mann, writing with Ronan Bennett and Ann Biderman from Bryan Burrough’s book, keeps it that lean for 140 minutes. The result is cold, handsome and expertly staged, and we were gripped by it in bursts.

The look is the film’s big decision. Dante Spinotti shoots the 1930s on digital video, no grain, no softening, so the lacquer on the cars and the stubble on Depp’s jaw are there in flat, hard detail and the past stops looking like the past. In daylight, inside Nathan Crowley’s banks of marble counters and brass grilles, it can resemble a costumed reconstruction on the news. At night it is remarkable, and the night is where the film lives. Colleen Atwood keeps Dillinger in a camel coat and a fedora, and puts Billie Frechette (Marion Cotillard) in the black-and-red dress that starts their first argument.

The gunfight at the Little Bohemia lodge is the reason to see it. Agents move through a Wisconsin wood in the dark, the gang comes out shooting, and for minutes the only light is muzzle flash: trees and faces lit white for a frame and gone. We were properly frightened, sat forward on the seat, and it was the sound that did it, gunfire recorded loud and dry with real silence in the gaps. Jeffrey Ford and Paul Rubell cut it so we always know who is behind which tree. Elsewhere their cutting is choppier; the early bank jobs run into one another.

Depp plays Dillinger as a man who lives entirely in the present and has decided not to be afraid. He tells Billie who he is on their first night and lists what he likes, baseball, the pictures, good clothes, fast cars, whiskey and her, and that is as close as the script comes to a confession. The best scene has him stroll through the Chicago police squad room set up to catch him, read his own file on the wall and ask the detectives the baseball score while nobody looks up. Depp underplays all of it, rightly. Cotillard gives Billie nerve and a fear she keeps swallowing. The romance is given perhaps six scenes, and only the one in a police interrogation room earns its place.

The law gets the worse of it. Bale plays Purvis as a jaw and a hat brim, a decent man slowly realising the job is beyond him, and the script gives him nothing else. Crudup’s Hoover, vain and hungry for headlines, is the sharper creation, and Stephen Lang’s Charles Winstead, the Texas lawman brought in because the college boys cannot shoot, has perhaps a dozen lines and we remembered all of them. Across the line, Giovanni Ribisi’s Alvin Karpis and John Ortiz’s Phil D’Andrea tell Dillinger that the Syndicate makes more from telephone bookmaking than he does from banks, and that his face in the papers is bad for business. A robber made obsolete by the police and the mob at the same time is the film’s idea, and a good one. It is stated in two scenes and then left alone.

Against Mann’s own record this is the chilly one. [*Heat*](https://film.one/film/heat) (1995) sat its cop and its thief down for a cup of coffee and gave both of them lives to lose. Here the two men meet once, through bars, and the scene tells us less about either than we had already guessed. Past the two-hour mark we noticed we wanted Dillinger caught, not from any feeling about justice but so the film would arrive somewhere, which is not a thought a Dillinger picture should allow. Elliot Goldenthal’s score, low strings used sparingly, stays out of the way; the songs in the clubs do more of the work.

See it in the dark on the biggest screen you have, with the sound up, for Little Bohemia and for the squad room. At home the digital image flattens into something nearer television, which is the one thing this film cannot afford to look like. It runs 140 minutes and carries a 15.

*Fi1m score 64, published 2 October 2026.*

## What the critics say

Most critics admire Public Enemies more than they enjoy it. Of twenty reviews, ten are mixed and only three are hostile, and the praise is almost unanimous about one thing: the way Michael Mann and his camera handle the 1930s. The nighttime shootouts, the Little Bohemia sequence above all, are singled out again and again, along with the production design and the natural light. Johnny Depp’s controlled Dillinger is the performance most often picked out, with Marion Cotillard a close second.

The complaints are just as consistent. Reviewers find the film emotionally cool, Dillinger himself opaque, the romance thin and the supporting figures, Christian Bale’s Purvis in particular, barely sketched. The spread is wide, from a strong recommendation at Empire down to outright dismissals at The Hollywood Reporter and Digital Spy. The digital look also divides: Radio Times calls the lighting vibrant, The AV Club finds it a flaw. The Guardian, almost alone, counts Depp’s restraint against the film.

## Straight answers

**Is Public Enemies worth watching?**

*Public Enemies* is worth watching for Michael Mann admirers and for anyone who wants to see one of the best-staged gunfights he has made, and we scored it 64. The Little Bohemia shoot-out and the squad-room scene are the reasons to see it; between them the film keeps Dillinger at arm's length and runs cold. Watch it on the biggest screen you have, with the sound up.

**How long is Public Enemies, and what is it rated?**

*Public Enemies* runs 2h 20m and is rated 15 by the RO in Romania. It is a crime and history film.

**Where can I watch Public Enemies in Romania?**

*Public Enemies* is available to rent from Amazon Prime Video from lei 7.99. Availability is checked daily; the links above go straight to each service.

**How violent or frightening is Public Enemies, and is it suitable for children?**

*Public Enemies* carries a 15 in the UK and an R in the US, and it is a gunfight film, not one for children. The violence is loud and sudden rather than gory, with gunfire recorded dry and close and a night shoot-out in a wood that frightened us in the cinema. Older teenagers used to crime films should be fine; the squeamish will find the sound harder than the pictures.

**How does Public Enemies compare to Heat?**

*Public Enemies* is the chillier film and [*Heat*](https://film.one/film/heat) the better one. *Heat* sits its cop and its thief down for a conversation and gives both men lives to lose; here Purvis and Dillinger meet once, through bars, and the scene tells us little. Choose *Heat* for character and patience, *Public Enemies* for the hard digital look and the gunfights, which are as good as anything in the earlier film.

**Is Public Enemies based on a true story or a book?**

*Public Enemies* is adapted from Bryan Burrough's book and deals with the real John Dillinger, J. Edgar Hoover and Melvin Purvis in 1933. Mann, Ronan Bennett and Ann Biderman keep the plot lean, and our review does not weigh how closely the film follows the book. You need no knowledge of the source: the film tells you what it wants you to know about Dillinger, which is not much.

**What should I watch after Public Enemies?**

After *Public Enemies*, try [*Heat*](https://film.one/film/heat) (1995, Fi1m 91): Mann gives the cop and the thief the conversation this film withholds. Then [*Bonnie and Clyde*](https://film.one/film/bonnie-and-clyde) (1967, Fi1m 88): The same Depression banks, robbed by people the film actually lets us like; and [*The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford*](https://film.one/film/the-assassination-of-jesse-james-by-the-coward-robert-ford) (2007, Fi1m 84): Another American outlaw watched from a cold distance, and this time the distance is the point.

### Reviews we read (20)

- **Empire**, Ian Nathan (85/100, inferred): Nathan finds the film intelligent, challenging and worth the effort it demands. He particularly praises its immersive digital recreation of the 1930s and Marion Cotillard’s performance as the story’s emotional centre. [Read](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/public-enemies-review/)
- **Radio Times**, Alan Jones (4/5): The critic presents the film as a strong, documentary-style crime drama. They praise its cast, sumptuous production design, and vibrant natural lighting. [Read](https://www.radiotimes.com/movie-guide/b-lgnyex/public-enemies/)
- **Total Film**, Rob James (4/5): The critic finds the film a startling, atmospheric crime epic, though its supporting characters remain ciphers. He praises Mann’s vivid visual style and the romance’s tragic heartbeat. [Read](https://www.gamesradar.com/public-enemies-review/)
- **RogerEbert.com**, Roger Ebert (3/4): Ebert finds the film stylish but emotionally cool. He singles out Johnny Depp’s controlled performance as a strength. [Read](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/public-enemies-2009)
- **The New Yorker**, David Denby (70/100, inferred): Denby finds the film visually ravishing and expertly directed, but says its emotional distance and underdeveloped view of Dillinger keep it from greatness. He especially praises Mann’s lucid, fast-moving direction and elegant visual style. [Read](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2009/07/06/tommy-guns-and-toys)
- **Variety**, Todd McCarthy (65/100, inferred): McCarthy finds the film admirable but not electrifying, with its meticulous historical tapestry making a stronger impression than its overall impact. He particularly praises the Little Bohemia shootout, where the nighttime cinematography and gunfire stand out. [Read](https://variety.com/2009/film/markets-festivals/public-enemies-michael-mann-1200474972/)
- **Film Comment**, Andrew Sarris (64/100, inferred): The accessible page does not reveal the critic’s verdict. It provides no details about what the review praises or criticizes. [Read](https://www.filmcomment.com/issues/september-october-2009/?pdfviewer=issue&pdf-page=63)
- **Screen Daily**, Tim Grierson (64/100, inferred): The review's verdict and specific praise or complaint are unavailable in the visible page text. The page identifies the film and critic but exposes only a paywall shell. [Read](https://www.screendaily.com/public-enemies/5002607.article)
- **The AV Club**, Keith Phipps (C+): Phipps finds the film disappointingly smaller than life, despite its audacious refusal to mythologize Dillinger. He praises a fleeting farmhouse scene and a thrilling nighttime chase, but faults the unfocused storytelling, digital-video look, and lifeless romance. [Read](https://www.avclub.com/public-enemies-1798206492)
- **Slant Magazine**, Nick Schager (2.5/4): Schager finds the film visually potent but dramatically underdeveloped and ultimately uninvolving. He praises the action sequences’ muscular framing and movement, while faulting the central romance for feeling thin and contrived. [Read](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/public-enemies/)
- **Time Out**, Trevor Johnston (3/5): Johnston gives the film three out of five, suggesting a mixed verdict. The teaser foregrounds the hunter-and-hunted pairing and invokes Mann’s *Heat* as a comparison. [Read](https://www.timeout.com/movies/public-enemies)
- **The New York Times**, A.O. Scott (50/100, inferred): The review gives the film a mixed verdict, finding it engaging but not fully successful. It singles out Johnny Depp’s performance as John Dillinger for praise. [Read](https://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/01/movies/01enemies.html)
- **The Guardian**, Peter Bradshaw (45/100, inferred): Bradshaw finds the film potent and confident, but says its ingredients do not quite come together. He praises the forceful gunfight sequences while faulting Depp’s emotionally restrained performance. [Read](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2009/jul/03/public-enemies-film-review)
- **Evening Standard** (30/100, inferred): The critic finds the film visually accomplished but ultimately unsuccessful, with Dillinger left emotionally opaque and the story lacking tension. They praise the performances, dialogue and Mann’s compelling attempt, despite its failure to bring the story together. [Read](https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/film/johnny-depps-gangster-is-rapped-in-public-enemies-7415278.html)
- **The Hollywood Reporter**, Kirk Honeycutt (30/100, inferred): Honeycutt finds the film sprawling and unable to make Dillinger or the other figures compelling, despite its star cast. He praises the smoothly staged shootouts and strong cinematography, but says the human element goes missing. [Read](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-reviews/public-enemies-film-review-93298/)
- **Den of Geek**, Simon Brew (4 out of 5): Brew finds the film flawed but absorbing, and better than its divisive reputation suggests. He particularly praises Johnny Depp’s characterisation of Dillinger, while noting that Purvis and the romance receive too little development. [Read](https://www.denofgeek.com/movies/public-enemies-blu-ray-review/)
- **NME**, Owen Nicholls (70/100, inferred): The critic recommends the film as intelligent, complex and tense, despite some pacing and visual-style complaints. They single out the chemistry and performances of Johnny Depp and Marion Cotillard for praise. [Read](https://www.nme.com/blogs/the-movies-blog/theres-more-to-public-enemies-than-johnny-depp-although-he-is-damn-fucking-cool-46936)
- **Collider**, Andre Dellamorte (65/100, inferred): The critic finds Public Enemies solid and interesting, but less cohesive and compelling than Michael Mann’s best work. They praise its immaculately staged heists and nighttime shootout, while noting the film’s ideas never fully come into focus. [Read](https://collider.com/public-enemies-blu-ray-review/)
- **Eye for Film**, Stephen Carty (55/100, inferred): Carty finds the film competent and a refreshing change from blockbuster fare, but not among Michael Mann’s best. He praises two quieter sequences, especially Dillinger’s unnoticed visit to the police squad room. [Read](https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/public-enemies-film-review-by-stephen-carty)
- **Digital Spy**, Stella Papamichael (20/100, inferred): The critic finds the film dull and argues that Michael Mann misses the point by privileging Dillinger’s legend over the facts. They single out the one-sided portrayal of Dillinger and the G-Men as especially damaging, while noting that Christian Bale and Billie are short-changed. [Read](https://www.digitalspy.com/movies/a162783/public-enemies/)

## Details

- **Director:** Michael Mann
- **Director:** Michael Mann
- **Screenplay:** Ann Biderman, Ronan Bennett, Michael Mann
- **Novel:** Bryan Burrough
- **Cinematography:** Dante Spinotti
- **Editor:** Jeffrey Ford, Paul Rubell
- **Music:** Elliot Goldenthal
- **Production design:** Nathan Crowley
- **Costume design:** Colleen Atwood
- **Producer:** Kevin Misher, Michael Mann
- **Cast:** Johnny Depp as John Dillinger; Christian Bale as Melvin Purvis; Marion Cotillard as Billie Frechette; Jason Clarke as 'Red' Hamilton; Rory Cochrane as Agent Carter Baum; Billy Crudup as J. Edgar Hoover; Stephen Dorff as Homer Van Meter; Stephen Lang as Charles Winstead
- **Runtime:** 2h 20m
- **Certificate (RO):** 15
- **Release (Romania):** 17 July 2009
- **Genres:** Crime, History, Drama
- **Budget:** $100 million
- **Box office:** $214 million
- **Trailer:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pv0DMzFwEW4

## Where to watch in Romania

- Amazon Prime Video: rent lei 7.99, hd
- Amazon Prime Video: buy lei 24.99, hd

*Checked 2026-10-02.*

Also available in: AE, AR, AT, AU, BE, BG, BR, CA, CH, CL, CO, CZ, DE, DK, EC, EE, ES, FI, FR, GB, GR, HK, HR, HU, ID, IE, IL, IN, IS, IT, JP, KR, LT, MX, MY, NL, NO, NZ, PA, PE, PH, PL, PT, RO, RS, SE, SG, TH, TR, UA, US, VN, ZA. Add `?region=XX` to this URL for another country.

## If you liked this

- *Heat* (1995), Fi1m 91: Mann gives the cop and the thief the conversation this film withholds. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/heat.md)
- *Bonnie and Clyde* (1967), Fi1m 88: The same Depression banks, robbed by people the film actually lets us like. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/bonnie-and-clyde.md)
- *Mesrine: Killer Instinct* (2008): France’s own celebrity robber, played by Vincent Cassel with an appetite Depp keeps buttoned up.
- *The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford* (2007), Fi1m 84: Another American outlaw watched from a cold distance, and this time the distance is the point. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/the-assassination-of-jesse-james-by-the-coward-robert-ford.md)
- *Le Samouraï* (1967), Fi1m 88: Melville’s hitman in hat and trench coat, saying even less than Dillinger does. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/le-samourai.md)

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/film/public-enemies