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Many critics are "puzzled" about this movie – they say: "We're left asking, who is John Dillinger, really?" Well folks, there is a twisted answer to this puzzle: This movie is not about John Dillinger. It is about the ICON of John Dillinger and how we all respond to that icon: how people of the 30s, Billie Frechette, John Dillinger himself, and how WE respond to it. At the core of the film is a powerful love story, and Michael Mann has succeeded in creating, yes… a profoundly great piece of film art, and it will be sorely under-appreciated.Who were the real public enemies? This is relatively straight-forward: Dillinger was a folk hero to the people of the 30s. We see it in Dillinger's infamous press conference where he runs the show, and in the crowds waving at him on the street. It's the Great Depression, he's a country boy who robs the corrupt banks, and he's cool and charismatic. But who is he really? They don't really know and it doesn't matter – because he's an icon. And we see that in the frenzied gawking faces outside the Biograph.Billie Frechette is at the heart and soul of the film. But she too is responding more to the icon than to the man: Dillinger puts on a show for her, only giving her the minimal facts. There isn't much to say for the same reason he doesn't know how to dance – he's fresh out of his 9-year sentence. He's like a matador holding up his red cape, and she has no choice but to fall for it even though it's her demise. Whenever she tries to face reality, he redirects her to the illusion: "Say that you know it. Just say it." Marion Cotillard's acting is supremely competent throughout.John Dillinger himself is perfectly played by Johnny Depp – easily likable, understated, the simple man beneath the icon. He's infinitely young and naive, but self-assuredly faces a brick wall of a fate. We only see a quick snapshot of his life, because that's all it was. All we know is that he was a poor, motherless, beaten kid, thrown in the state prison as a young man for 9 years for stealing $50. There he became who he is: a thug, a hardened criminal, but jovial and loyal to his friends. He quickly became a larger-than-life icon soon after his release. Confused and bedazzled, he's whisked in chains past flashing bulbs. Placed on the stage, he hams it up. He turns on the charm, and he waves to his fans. It's quick: He robs a few banks, he lives it up, he gets away with it, but it's all over in a few months. He only really "lived" for one year: the time from his release from the 9-year sentence to when he was gunned down. Who is John Dillinger? His clichéd lines to Billie often seem to come from the 'big screen' as the dramatic 30s movie music swells. But then we see the non-iconic helpless young man when Billie is taken away. Finally, he seems to ask the same question. He marches straight into the Dillinger department of police headquarters to see himself -- his legacy on the wall. And in the sublime Biograph scene, he sees himself in Clark Gable.Purvis (solidly but perfunctorily played by Christian Bale) is the antithesis to Dillinger. While Dillinger tries to do 'wrong' and succeeds, Purvis tries to do 'right' and fails. Although we root for Dillinger, Purvis is supposed to be the real hero. But we know little about Purvis or any of the characters from dialog. This is almost a purely visual story, with the events, costumes, richly textured backgrounds, camera shots, and small gestures telling us more about the characters than their words.With 4th-of-July explosive power, admirable historical accuracy (minor alterations), and very few technical imperfections, Mann puts us in the middle of the action with minimal explanation. It would be nice to have a bit more story, but we're "in the moment" just as Dillinger chose to live his one year of life. It's a "hyper-realistic" action, with frequent use of hand-held shots, close-ups, stunning gunfire, exquisitely detailed attention to period authenticity, and then some! Scenes were shot exactly where events really happened: Depp breaks out of Dillinger's actual jail cell, fires through the same windows and runs through the same woods at Little Bohemia, and dies on the same yard of pavement in front of the Biograph. When the plane arrives in Indiana with Dillinger, we see a quick glimpse of the actual black and white footage. The camera follows the characters around and ducks as if we're a reporter on the scene. Instead of old, grainy, sepia-tinted film, we often see new, crisply cold and clear HD footage. What are we watching? What is real? There are moments when Mann clearly intended for us to come 'out of the film': when Hoover tells Purvis to take off the white gloves, the camera abruptly pulls away at the obvious modern ramifications. The film breaks the rules of audience self-awareness even more during the movie scene where we see the audience see Dillinger on the screen, and the audience is told to look to each side. And this is only a teaser for the grand finale feat of self-reflection: WE are watching a movie with an icon (Johnny Depp) playing an icon (John Dillinger), who is watching a movie with an icon (Clark Gable) playing an iconic criminal. Who is John Dillinger? Well, it's a nice treat of a puzzle indeed! John Dillinger sees himself at that moment. (Who do you see?) Don't tell me you didn't have a little swagger, a sly little grin, after you walked out of the theater. And his final iconic words – is it a myth? Don't WE want it to be true? Shouldn't he go out like Clark Gable would?
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