PUBLIC ENEMIES
4 out of 5 stars

“we’re having too good a time today. we ain’t thinking about tomorrow.” – john dillinger


and…that’s exactly how he lived his life in this biopic of the most wanted man/public enemy #1 in 1930s america. don’t be fooled, this notorious bank robber of the ‘30s is one sexy, charming, witty bastard, who is almost a public hero to the people of the great depression. (he even gives back your money!) a true “robin hood” who also has a “lady miriam” by the name of billie, played by the beautiful marion cotillard. dillinger might be PE#1, but baby face nelson (crazy motherfucker!) and pretty boy floyd (his scene is short but significant) make the list on the FBI’s most wanted list, and simultaneously hunted by special agent melvin purvis, who will stop at nothing to capture these criminals. best line from purvis was that he needed special help to capture dillinger, and apparently texans are the best at that! however, the overall IRONY of it all is that he happened to be right in front of their noses… (i.e. the scene where he just strolls into the chicago police dept then asks for a score to a baseball game to the cops—quite hilarious!) of course, my favorite scene is when after he and an inmate bust out of an indiana jail, he starts singing “get along, little doggies, get along, get along” to his hostages… :P


with that said, the dialogue/screenplay is highly well written, not to mention the acting! both christian bale and johnny depp are method actors, and they truly sink their teeth into the roles they are assigned. (had a blast reading up on all the little factoids on IMDB.com last night i.e. johnny wore the same pants as dillinger in the final scene, and apparently a perfect fit!) it’s so hard to believe that most of the script actually came from true dialogue collected by testimonies, interviews, depositions at dillinger’s trial, etc. of course, I highly enjoyed this one because it had two of my favorite actors playing protagonist/antagonist, so it was very fun to see them go head to head. i’m also a big fan of michael mann, who directed HEAT, and LOVED the use of color filtering to enhance color in certain scenes. (i.e. the miami scene with the warm, orange/yellow tones)


dillinger may go down in history as PE#1, but at least he’ll be remembered for saying this:


purvis: what keeps you up at night, mr. dillinger?
dillinger: coffee.


LOL ;)