PLAINFIELD, Ind. -- In his time, some considered John Dillinger a modern-day Robin Hood, but history painted the bank robber and Indiana native as a villain.

The film "Public Enemies" opened Thursday to large crowds at theaters in central Indiana, but there was a special premiere at a Plainfield theater, near the Mooresville home where Dillinger was raised.

Cars from the 1930s were parked outside the theater, and family photos inside gave moviegoers a deeper insight into the charismatic man who was buried at Crown Hill Cemetery in Indianapolis.

"What my grandmother, Doris, always said, 'Don't romanticize him. Don't villainize him,'" said Jeff Scalf, Dillinger's great-nephew. "He wasn't mean-spirited. He wasn't vicious. He was not a killer, but what he did was wrong."

"She said, in essence, 'He was just a big brother that I dearly loved,'" Scalf said. "He just happened to be a bank robber."

Scalf said that in Dillinger's mind, robbing banks was a profession in which he took great pride.

"He really was the best there was at it," Scalf said.

While the public's perception of Dillinger might not be affected because of the movie, those who were at the premiere said it's worth seeing.

"The movie was great. I loved it," said Andre Murry. "I love action-packed movies. I almost cried at the end."

"I thought it was really good," said Courtney Murry. "It really kept me jumping and kept me very much involved."

Tourists have been flocking to Crown Hill in recent weeks to see Dillinger's grave.