Public Enemies

From the official site – In the action-thriller Public Enemies, acclaimed film director Michael Mann directs Johnny Depp, Christian Bale and Academy Award winner Marion Cotillard in the story of legendary Depression-era outlaw John Dillinger (Depp)  – the charasmatic bank robber whose lightening raids made him the number one targer of J. Edgar Hoover’s fledgling FBI and its top agent Melvin Purvis (Bale), and a folk hero to much of the 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 (Cotillard) 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 Babyface Nelson (Stephen Graham) and Alvin Karpis (Giovanni Ribisi) – thrilled many, Hoover (Billy Crudup) hit on the idea of exploiting the outlaw’s capture as a way to elevate his Bureau of Investigation into the national police for that became the FBI. He made Dillinger America’s first Public Enemy Number One and sent in Purvis, the dashing “Clark Gable if 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 baptised as agents) and orchestrating epic betrayls – from the imfamous “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.

Opens July 1

Official Site

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