Public Enemies (2009)

Director:

Michael Mann

Writers (WGA):

Ronan Bennett (screenplay) and
Michael Mann (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

1 heinäkuu 2009 (USA)

Genre:

Biography | Crime | Drama | History | Thriller

Tagline:

America's Most Wanted

Plot:

The Feds try to take down notorious American gangsters John Dillinger, Baby Face Nelson and Pretty Boy Floyd during a booming crime wave in the 1930s.

Plot Keywords:

John Dillinger | 1930s | Bank Robber | Interrogation | Organized Crime

Awards:

8 nominations

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

James Russo	...	Walter Dietrich
David Wenham	...	Harry 'Pete' Pierpont
Christian Stolte	...	Charles Makley
Jason Clarke	...	John 'Red' Hamilton
Johnny Depp	...	John Dillinger
John Judd	...	Turnkey
Stephen Dorff	...	Homer Van Meter
Michael Vieau	...	Ed Shouse
John Kishline	...	Guard Dainard
Wesley Walker	...	Jim Leslie
John Scherp	...	Earl Adams
Elena Kenney	...	Viola Norris
William Nero Jr.	...	Farm Boy
Channing Tatum	...	Pretty Boy Floyd
Christian Bale	...	Melvin Purvis

MPAA:

Rated R for gangster violence and some language.

Runtime:

140 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color | Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

SDDS | Dolby Digital | DTS

Certification:

USA:R (certificate #45171) | Ireland:15A | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:14A (Alberta/British Columbia/Manitoba/Ontario) | UK:15 | South Korea:15 | Switzerland:14 (canton of Vaud) | Switzerland:14 (canton of Geneva) | Singapore:NC-16 | New Zealand:R16 | Mexico:B15 | Hong Kong:IIB | Australia:MA (Violence) | Norway:15 | Finland:K-15 | Philippines:R-13 | Sweden:15 | Brazil:16 | Argentina:13 | Portugal:M/16 | Iceland:16 | Germany:12 (w) | India:A | Netherlands:16 | Taiwan:R-12 | Japan:G | Austria:14 | Denmark:15 | France:U

Filming Locations:

Aurora, Illinois, USA

Company:

Universal Pictures

Trivia:

Billie Frechette (real name Mary Evelyn Frechette) was actually married to one Welton Spark at the time of her relationship with Dillinger. She married Spark in July 1932. He was convicted shortly thereafter for mail theft and received a 15-year term in Leavenworth, with a transfer to Alcatraz in September 1934. Her divorce from Spark wasn't finalized until the early '40s. She later married a man named Wally Wilson, the name she took to the grave. Wilson died unexpectedly, cause unknown, date unknown. Billie married Art Tic in 1965, a state game warden and barber from Shawano, Wisconsin. She died January 13, 1969, of mouth cancer. Mysteriously, her grave marker lists her name as Evelyn Tic (apparently against her wishes) and has the incorrect date of death as 1970.

Goofs:

Continuity: The escape from the Indiana jail has the escapees driving off in a police car stolen from the jail garage. On the driver's side door you can plainly see "Police" in white letters during one shot, then in another shot when they're sitting at the red light the door is letter-free, just a plain black sedan.

Quotes:

John Dillinger: Bye-bye, blackbird.

Movie Connections:

Featured in 81st Annual Academy Awards (2009) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Nasty Letter

My public record shows that "Public Enemies" is a cinematic hit!

John Dillinger was a gangster legend who was adored, loathed, chased, admired, and detested by many. There are mixed elements to how people judged John Dillinger, and that was one the most admirable & authentic qualities to Director Michael Mann's John Dillinger gangster flick "Public Enemies". Mann wisely does not evolve into the entire biography of the Dillinger tale; there is no childhood chronology and no catastrophic life scarring moment. It is basically about a man choosing a life of crime in order to live fast and play hard, subconsciously aware to the fact that is will be not be infinite. Mann starts the film with Dillinger already at his height of his gangster popularity orchestrating another one of his "great escape from prison" schemes. Then once again, Johnny D. and his bad boy entourage are robbing banks and living the retro thug life. Dillinger then checks out and romances the lovely checkout coat girl Billie Frechette. Apparently, Johnny's fresh ways were successful in luring Ms. Freshette. During that era of the 1930's crime hike, many Americans were rooting for these public enemies to rob banks in order to show their dislike of American banks for their mismanagement which eventually was the catastrophic factor which caused The Great Depression. Not to undermine the fact that many were against the dreadfulness that Dillinger and his men caused by their heinous crimes. J. Edgar Hoover was during that time trying to formalize his Bureau of Investigation into a national police force which later became known as the FBI. But Hoover had to find ways to vacuum the U.S. Government into this political formalization. Therefore, he exploited the capture of outlaws as a way to elevate his Bureau of Investigations. He then delegated the task of capturing Public Enemy Number 1, Dillinger himself, to top agent Melvin Purvis. The central plot line shootout of "Public Enemies" which Mann exhibits is the relentless pursuit of Purvis and Co. in capturing the charismatic Dillinger and his men. Johnny Depp was a real straight-shooter with his enigmatic but bulls-eye performance as Dillinger. Christian Bale's acting pursuit as one of the elite in the biz took another leap higher with his driven work here as Purvis. Marion Cotillard proved that she suffered no acting letdown, after her Best Actress Oscar, with her strong supportive work here as the Dillinger gal Billie. Speaking of Billies, Billy Crudup crudely transformed himself into J. Edgar Hoover with authentic prowess. Maybe I was hit too hard with Ronan Bennett's complex screenplay, but at times I was lost with "Public Enemies" verbose rounds. Nevertheless, it was Mann who captures his audience by Mannly displaying the Dillinger crime life and his ultimate demise in sheer entertainment fashion. "Public Enemies" might not be the #1 film in my "most wanted" 2009 film list at years end, but most probably will be gunned up as one of the best of the year. ***** Excellent