Based on the book Public Enemies: America's Greatest Crime Wave and the Birth of the FBI, 1933-34 by Bryan BurroughScreenplay by Ronan Bennet, Ann Biderman, and Michael Mann
Directed by Michael Mann
Johnny Depp
Christian Bale
Marion Cotillard
Premiere date: July 1, 2009
R for gangster violence and some language.
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 and a folk hero to a nation besieged by financial hardship and ready to celebrate a mythic figure.
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 to into the national police force that became the FBI. He made Dillinger America's first Public Enemy Number One and sent in Purvis to orchestrate his capture.
However, Dillinger and his men outwitted and outgunned Purvis' men in wild chases and shootouts. Only after importing a crew of lawmen from the Dallas bureau and arranging epic betrayals - from the infamous "Lady in Red" to Chicago crime boss Frank Nitti - were Purivis, the FBI and their new crew of gunfighters finally able to close in on Dillinger.
