Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Brisk
- Intensity
- Strong
- Complexity
- Layered
- Violence
- Brutal
- grave
- kinetic
- tense
- crime movie night
- historical drama evening
What critics said
Critics broadly found the film technically impressive and praised its performances, especially Johnny Depp and Billy Crudup, while some felt its docudrama approach limited emotional depth.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
Dillinger is portrayed as a cold, efficient criminal shaped by a changing criminal world, while the film emphasizes period investigation and surveillance.
Michael Mann's high-definition digital imagery gives bank robberies, ambushes, and law-enforcement pursuits a raw, convulsive presence.
Dillinger faces the loss of allies, dwindling options, and organized crime's transition away from his style of bank robbery.
The plot follows both John Dillinger's gang and Melvin Purvis's FBI manhunt, with Hoover's institutional pressure connecting their trajectories.
Films like Public Enemies, and why
Bonnie and Clyde
shares a 1930s gangster setting, biographical crime drama, period gunplay, and a doomed outlaw perspective
Heat
shares Michael Mann's crime procedural intensity, organized crime themes, tactical action, and competing law-enforcement and criminal viewpoints
The Untouchables
shares a stylized historical gangster world, charismatic criminal protagonists, and tragic organized crime drama
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
shares a serious biographical treatment of an American criminal figure, neo-noir atmosphere, and moral ambiguity
Movie Details
- Director
- Michael Mann
- Release Date
- 2009-07-01
- Runtime
- 140 min
- Rating
- 6.7 / 10 (4979)
Cast
- Johnny Depp
- Christian Bale
- Marion Cotillard
- Jason Clarke
- Rory Cochrane
- Billy Crudup
- Stephen Dorff
- Stephen Lang
- John Ortiz
- Giovanni Ribisi
Where to watch in United States
- Rent
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
- Buy
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
Streaming options come from TMDB and change over time.
Common questions
- What is Public Enemies about?
- Michael Mann turns John Dillinger’s final crime spree into a stark, kinetic portrait of an outlaw confronting the modern state and his own obsolescence.
- What is Public Enemies like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of Public Enemies as brisk, its intensity as strong and its storytelling as layered.
- Is Public Enemies violent?
- Yes. Ember rates the violence in Public Enemies as brutal.
- What did critics think of Public Enemies?
- Critics broadly found the film technically impressive and praised its performances, especially Johnny Depp and Billy Crudup, while some felt its docudrama approach limited emotional depth.
- Which films are like Public Enemies?
- Films with a similar feel include Bonnie and Clyde, Heat, The Untouchables, and The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford.
- How long is Public Enemies?
- Public Enemies runs 140 minutes.
- Where can I watch Public Enemies?
- In United States, Public Enemies is available to rent or buy from Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home.
