As I settled into my seat in the theater in western suburb of Escazú – in the front row because we had gotten there late – my heart started beating a little faster in anticipation of a movie I had waited months to see.

Smooth Criminal: Johnny Depp plays notorious gangster John Dillinger in Michael Man's “Public Enemies.”

Photo courtesy of Universal Pictures

Most of “Public Enemies” would be meaningless to me; just another film with guns and fast cars. But there was one scene that evoked memories of my childhood that I'd wade through anything to see.

Around this time of year, as the long summer days were becoming shorter, my family would retreat to the northern woods of the U.S. state of Wisconsin where my grandparents had a cabin. Each year, we'd make a special trip to the Little Bohemia restaurant on the other side of the lakes.

On the car ride there, someone – whether my grandmother, uncle or one of my parents – would retell the story about how my great-grandfather narrowly missed a shoot-out involving the United States' most wanted bank robber.

I remember stealing away from the table at the restaurant those nights, as the adults continued chatting over a glass of wine, to run my fingers over the bullet holes. Like scars of the past, the broken glass and chipped wood remain a lasting monument to a man who became a hero for thievery.

My great-grandfather just missed John Dillinger, a Robin Hood of his time, when he pulled up to the restaurant one night in April 1934 to play his usual round of cards. Before he got to the door, the bar owner, Emil Wanatka, intercepted him and told him to go home. “There's going to be trouble tonight,” he said.

Sure enough, that night there was a massive shoot out between the FBI and Dillinger's gang that left several dead and many more injured. Dillinger, and the rest of his men, escaped the grasp of the authorities once again.

So, here I was, more than 70 years later, watching that moment unfold in a movie theater in Costa Rica.

Though Hollywood molded the Wisconsin evening to the demands of the script, much of the scene followed the footprints of reality. John Dillinger (played by Johnny Depp) and his crew had actually stayed on the shores of Little Star Lake for a more extended time (in the movie, it was only hours) and some sources suggest a connection between the bar owner and Dillinger (though the movie portrays them as strangers). A more in-depth and accurate account can be found at www.littlebohemialodge.com.

Somewhat drawn-out and slow, “Public Enemies” might be a turn-off for those looking for a quick action film. But for those with a passion for history and who are drawn to stories of the gangs of the 1920s and 1930s, the movie will play to your interest.

For me, the scenes of Little Bohemia passed on a whiff of nostalgia, but also provided illustrations to what before had been only stories from my childhood.