Public Enemies (2009)

Directed by

Michael Mann

Genre

drama film, action film, adventure film, heist film, period drama film, biographical film

Country

United States

Runtime

2h 20m

Rated

R

Rating

6.7 of 10 from 4,882 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

During the Great Depression, FBI agent Melvin Purvis hunts down bank robber John Dillinger. The movie follows Dillinger's final years and his relationship with Billie Frechette.

tensegrittygroundedfast-paceddarkromantichistoricalsuspenseful

What happens

Public Enemies is a 2009 American biographical crime film directed by Michael Mann, who co-wrote the screenplay with Ronan Bennett and Ann Biderman. It is an adaptation of Bryan Burrough's 2004 non-fiction book Public Enemies: America's Greatest Crime Wave and the Birth of the FBI, 1933–34. Set during the Great Depression, the film chronicles the final years of the notorious bank robber John Dillinger (Johnny Depp) as he is pursued by FBI agent Melvin Purvis (Christian Bale), Dillinger's relationship with Billie Frechette (Marion Cotillard), as well as Purvis' pursuit of Dillinger's associates and fellow criminals John "Red" Hamilton (Jason Clarke), Homer Van Meter (Stephen Dorff), Harry Pierpont (David Wenham), and Baby Face Nelson (Stephen Graham). Burrough originally intended to make a television miniseries about the Depression-era crime wave in the United States, but decided to write a book on the subject instead. Mann developed the project, and some scenes were filmed on location where they occurred, though the film is not entirely historically accurate. Public Enemies premiered in Chicago on June 19, 2009, and was released on July 1, 2009, by Universal Pictures. The film received generally positive reviews from critics and grossed $214.1 million worldwide against an $80–100 million budget. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

Trailer

More like this

• Shutter Island (2010)
• Dillinger (1973)
• Melvin Purvis: G-Man (1974)
• The Kansas City Massacre (1975)
• Bonnie and Clyde (1967)
• Goodfellas (1990)
• Young Dillinger (1965)
• Law Abiding Citizen (2009)