I was a bit hesitant to see this film when I first heard about it, period pieces aren't generally my "thing," but I am very glad that I did. Public Enemies was interesting, well acted, and well scored (with mostly period music). While Johnny Depp and Christian Bale did great jobs with their parts, the best acting in the film is definitely done by Stephen Graham with his excellent portrayal of Baby Face Nelson, who was apparently done a great disservice by the film (read the wiki page).
Now for my problems with the film. Public Enemies, even though it was a period piece and a true story (it deserves a little slack), was oddly paced and, at times, poorly connected. The interesting and exciting parts were often drowned out by agonizingly dull portions and everything was connected by days that went by impossibly fast (based on the scenes) and FBI agents that could seemingly teleport wherever they wanted to. Also, when the film began I got the odd feeling that it was starting about halfway through. I personally would have liked to see more of Dillinger's rise to notoriety instead of the brief, yet numerous, references to his past.
I am awarding Public Enemies three and a half stars out of five for keeping my interest and being well acted, yet still being inconsistently paced and occasionally incoherent. The film definitely exceeded my expectations, though, and I would definitely recommend it to anyone who hasn't seen it and needs something to see.
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