Today I went and saw Public Enemies starring Johnny Depp. Let me first say that it was a little on the long side; more than 2 hours. Let me also say that while long, it was entertaining. Was it worth seeing in the theater, probably not. Watching it in 4 or 5 months on my big screen tv for the cost of a DVD or BlueRay rental would have sufficed. That aside, if you like historical drams with a little action and some excellent acting, then Public Enemies is well worth seeing; whatever your locational preference.
Before watching the movie I did read up on Dillinger, played by Depp, and it seems the director took some liberties with the historical facts - artistic license. When events happened and who was there when they happened were mucked around with; but the general story remained the same.
Depp plays Dillinger as a hard nosed criminal who isn't afraid to get his hands dirty or spill blood; but he isn't going to go out of his way to spill blood either. Sort of a gentleman's crook; except for the fact that he was far from a gentleman. You leave the theater feeling for the guy, even though he probably got what was coming to him. The FBI agents, most of them anyway, come off as heavy handed thugs; especially Hoover. I don't know much about FBI history, but I do know Hoover was no man to mess around with; but I can't speak to how his agents acted. I have no doubt that the FBI of 2009 is nothing like the FBI of circa 1930.
All-in-all, it was a good movie. I don't think it will win any awards, accept maybe for costumes and sets; those were incredible and did give you the feeling it really was the height of the great depression. Beyond that the acting was solid as was the writing; just could have been about 30 minutes shorter I think and maybe not played around so much with artistic license.
My suggestion, check it out; but wait until it hits your local video store or on-line rental choice.