“We’re too good for ‘em.”
Johnny Depp stars as John Dillinger, an expert bank robber who underestimates lawman Melvin Purvis (Christian Bale) and the FBI in director Michael Mann’s 1930s biographical action film.
Audiences get a better picture of this “modern-day Robin Hood” on a wild ride, especially as the non-traditional plot mirrors Dillinger’s erratic, crime-filled life. Mann naturally focuses the film on Dillinger’s lawless antics and how it affected everyone involved while entertaining audiences with a star-filled cast and great action sequences.
J. Edgar Hoover (Billy Crudup) backs up Purvis while Dillinger gets support from Homer Van Meter (Stephen Dorff), Pretty Boy Floyd (Channing Tatum) and Baby Face Nelson (Stephen Graham). Crudup gets a nice showcase as a driven Hoover relentlessly extinguishes any obstacles preventing a Dillinger capture after an embarrassing status hearing in front of Congress. Purvis remains steadfast in his beliefs, but slowly discovers how bending the rules affects his honorable sense of duty.
Depp’s appealing persona matches well with Bale’s quiet, intelligent portrayal. Creative liberties produce a fictitious scene in a jail so their relationship develops further through some direct contact. Other historical facts (the order of criminal deaths, Dillinger’s last words, etc.) also shift in the plot.
Dillinger luckily finds Billie Frechette (Marion Cotillard), who provides another emotional base in the plot. Her involvement gives audiences a strong perspective between the famous robbers and a budding FBI division.
As the growing reality and subsequent manhunt quell their ambitious international dreams, Dillinger and Frechette both grow into a simple love shaped by Dillinger’s own sense of misdirected duty. Dillinger eagerly defends Frechette, but breaks the law to do it.
Dillinger also faithfully sticks by his thieving associates until a key scene, which begins his shift into isolation. Dillinger always realizes his situation, but Frechette’s pleadings expedite some more hopeful goals until the stark “turnover” of his associates eventually push him into comfortable familiarity, which puts him in unnecessary danger, and willful naivety.
Article comments
1 - Jeanette
I saw the movie Public enemy with Johnny Depp acting, and I loved the movie . Love all of Johnny Depp's movies.
2 - Jeanette
Actually, the ending of the movie I found to be very sad and emotional, as Dillenger fell in love and then had to die, I did cry through most of the movie. but love the acting of Johnny.
3 - Jeanette
Since that movie, I have followed all of his movie making, and I am a true follower and fan of Johnny Depp. I understand from his bio, that he has native heritage from his grandmother, which is an awesome line of culture that he has inherited.