MOVIE SYNOPSIS
Public Enemies
"Public Enemies" is the story of legendary Depression-era outlaw John Dillinger-the charismatic bank robber whose lightning raids made him the number one target of J. Edgar Hoover's fledgling FBI and its top agent, Melvin Purvis, and a folk hero to much of the downtrodden public. No one could stop Dillinger and his gang. No jail could hold him. His charm and audacious jailbreaks endeared him to almost everyone-from his girlfriend Billie Frechette to an American public who had no sympathy for the banks that had plunged the country into the Depression. But while the adventures of Dillinger's gang-later including the sociopathic Baby Face Nelson and Alvin Karpis-thrilled many, Hoover hit on the idea of exploiting the outlaw's capture as a way to elevate his Bureau of Investigation into the national police force that became the FBI. He made Dillinger America's first Public Enemy Number One and sent in Purvis, the dashing "Clark Gable of the FBI.'' However, Dillinger and his gang outwitted and outgunned Purvis' men in wild chases and shootouts. Only after importing a crew of Western ex-lawmen (newly baptized as agents) and orchestrating epic betrayals-from the infamous "Lady in Red'' to the Chicago crime boss Frank Nitti-were Purvis, the FBI and their new crew of gunfighters able to close in on Dillinger.
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Director Michael Mann is a stylish, brooding perfectionist who makes movies about men who are stylish, brooding perfectionists. Mann's subjects are often cops or criminals, but though he carries a camera instead of a gun, you can feel the way Mann empathizes with and admires their terse professionalism.
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The 1930s gangster movie is back.Does anybody care? "Public Enemies," set in the "golden age of bank robbery," when the likes of Baby Face Nelson, Ma and Pa Barker, and Bonnie and Clyde were looting and shooting across the land, is the first A-list Depression-era crime pic since Brian DePalma's "The Untouchables."
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MPAA rating:
R
for gangster violence and some language
Cast:
Billy Crudup; Christian Bale; Marion Cotillard; Stephen Lang; Rory Cochran; John Ortiz; Jason Clarke; Johnny Depp; Giovanni Ribisi; Stephen Dorff
Directed by:
Michael Mann
On the web:
Genre:
Action, Adventure; Suspense, Thriller Running time:
02:23
Release date:
2009
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