PUBLIC
ENEMIES
With
Johnny
Depp,
Christian
Bale,
Marion
Cotillard,
Billy
Crudup,
Stephen
Graham,
Giovanni
Ribisi,
James
Russo,
David
Wenham
Written
by Ronan
Bennett,
Michael
Mann
&
Ann
Biderman (based
on the
book
"Public
Enemies:
America's
Greatest
Crime
Wave
and
the
Birth
of the
FBI,
1933-34"
by Bryan
Burrough)
Directed
Michael
Mann
John
Dillinger
was
a notorious
American
bank
robber
from
the
1930s,
who
gained
cult
status
(like
fellow
criminals
Baby
Face
Nelson,
Dutch
Schultz,
Pretty
Boy
Floyd,
Al Capone,
Bugsy
Siegel),
regardless
of the
terrible
deeds
they
committed.
In this
Michael
Mann
telling
of Dillinger's
story,
they
cannot
help
but
glamourize
him,
especially
with
Depp
in the
role.
This
never
sits
well
(even
if we
know
the
bad
guy
gets
it in
the
end).
This
high
energy
conflict
goes
hand
in hand
with
the
telling
of the
rise
of the
FBI,
the
other
side
of the
coin
being
Melvin
Purvis,
the
lawman
who
hunted
down
Dillinger
and
other
criminal.
He was
given
carte
blanche
by J.
Edgar
Hoover
to take
these
men
down
by any
means
necessary,
matching
their
firepower
and
intent.
Throughout
the
story,
Mann
tries
to accentuate
both
Dillinger
and
Purvis'
good
and
bad
sides.
Another
element
Mann
explores
is focusing
on Dillinger's
woman
and
what
she
had
to endure
- some
would
say
you
can't
help
who
you
fall
in love
with
while
others
would
have
little
sympathy
and
say
that
if you
know
what
you're
getting
yourself
in for,
you
must
be prepared
to take
the
consequences.
But,
even
with
a director
like
Mann,
a cast
like
Depp
and
Bale,
brazen
acts
of robbery,
shoot-outs
and
chases,
this
movie
failed
to grab
me by
the
eyeballs.
On top
of this
the
video
look
at the
press
screening
also
detached
me from
the
believability
(and
I'm
unsure
whether
we were
supplied
with
an un-graded
version...).
The
fact
that
some
people
are
willing
to do
anything
for
money
(even
kill
another
human
being),
certainly
reflects
how
some
of us
haven't,
and
simply
won't
evolve.
3
/ C
- Paul
Blom
0
1 2
3
4 5
6
-
A -
B -
C
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