In Theaters: Public Enemies

For an artist as history-obsessed as Michael Mann, it's a wonder he's made only three period films in 30 years. It's even more surprising how wildly their quality swings, from the dynamic, violent romance of The Last of the Mohicans to the paper-thin biopic Ali to this week's middling Public Enemies. Mann's style may remain consistent throughout, offering his same moody riff on a classic American folk tale. But what happens when the filmmaker's even more preoccupying theme -- crime, and the men who practice it -- has its own stake in Enemies' John Dillinger myth? A schizoid mess, that's what.