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Public Enemies (2009)
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Overview
User Rating:
Release Date:
1 July 2009 (USA) morePlot:
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. | full synopsisNewsDesk:
(774 articles)
Ice Age 3 and Transformers 2 Draw Even at Weekend Box Office (From TheHDRoom. 6 July 2009, 5:46 AM, PDT)
'Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs' tops overseas b.o.
(From screeninglog. 5 July 2009, 5:21 PM, PDT)
User Comments:
It is an entertaining backseat ride into the life of a country boy turned bank robber moreUS Showtimes:
(register to personalize)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. | ... | Toddler on Farm | |
| Channing Tatum | ... | Pretty Boy Floyd | |
| Christian Bale | ... | Melvin Purvis |
Additional Details
MPAA:
Rated R for gangster violence and some language.Parents Guide:
View content advisory for parentsRuntime:
140 minCountry:
USALanguage:
EnglishColor:
ColorAspect Ratio:
2.35 : 1 moreFun Stuff
Trivia:
The gunfight at the lodge in the woods was filmed at the Little Bohemia Lodge in Manitowish Waters, WI which is the actual location where the gunfight between Dillinger and the FBI took place in 1934. In fact, shell casings from the 1934 gunfight can still be found in the woods surrounding the lodge. moreGoofs:
Continuity: In the scene where John Dillinger (Johnny Depp) is getting ready to leave for the Biograph Theatre, Dillinger checks his pocket watch. The time on the watch says 5:00. After a cut to a closer shot about a second later his watch says 6:30. moreFAQ
Where can we watch the trailers?Will this film be historically accurate?
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With Billie Holiday singing her heart out and the subtle details of cracked nail polish and $3 dresses, Public Enemies brings you into the era of the Great Depression without boring you with back stories and explanations.
It is an honest bio-pic with little factual variations outside of John Dillinger's romantic ambitions. It is an entertaining backseat ride into the life of a country boy turned bank robber in a time where America hated money-makers and banks. A time when people were starving and in need of a gun-toting, charismatic mid-western boy to stir things up a bit, one bank robbery at a time.
A Cast of Winning Players Director Michael Mann is known best for Heat, Collateral and Miami Vice. His attention to detail is known and it is said that he went above the call of duty in his research for this movie. Obviously he deemed it important to depict a true version of the Dillinger story with a bit of Hollywood sprinkled in to keep our attention. Johnny Depp is solid as the charismatic bank robber, adopting his mannerisms, speech and swagger and even the trademark smirk that is seen on all of Dillinger's photos. Christian Bale is perfect as Melvin Purvis, looking similar to the "G man" and confidently playing the role convincingly.
Digital Camera and No true sense of good and Bad The camera threw me off a bit switching from an old sepia toned look to a digital one during fights. At times it made you feel as if you were an observant on the street while other times it felt just like a movie. I wasn't sure why this was but I concluded that Mann wanted us to be there with Dillinger most of the time and at other times we are to observe from a distance. There was no great love felt for any of the dark heroes, the charismatic Dillinger was likable but I never felt concern for his well-being. The FBI agent in Purvis (Christian Bale) was the typical white knight archetype and was given little personality outside of this so I felt nothing for him either. The romance between Dillinger and Billie Frechette (Marion Cotillard) was interesting but felt clichéd (gangsters always have THAT chick in these movies) and just like real life that political blowhard J.Edgar Hoover (Billy Crudup) is the only real "bad guy" in the entire film.
Final Thoughts It felt like a different time period and the choreography of the gunfights were done well enough to keep me interested. With as colorful a crew as the boys who ran with John Dillinger, it would have been hard to direct a movie like this while keeping everyone relative. Men like Alvin Karpis (Giovanni Ribisi), Pretty Boy Floyd (Channing Tatum) and Baby Face Nelson (Stephen Graham) are given screen time, as well as Capone's number one do-boy Frank Nitti (Bill Camp). Still there was so much shown that you tend to lose your familiarity with Dillinger's quest for whatever it is he wanted and the hopelessness of his situation settles in after awhile. It is a good movie with no real emotional weight, just a "this is what happened" gloss to the entire thing with a sprinkling of charisma to top it off. If anything, you will go researching Dillinger and gang after the movie has piqued your interest.
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