Public Enemies (2009)

Avaliação/usuário:

7,3/10   

Diretor:

Michael Mann

Writers (WGA):

Ronan Bennett (screenplay) and
Michael Mann (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

1 Julho 2009 (USA)

Genre:

Biography | Crime | Drama | History | Thriller

Chamada:

America's Most Wanted

Plot:

The Feds try to take down notorious American gangsters John Dillinger, Baby Face Nelson and Pretty Boy Floyd during a booming crime wave in the 1930s.

Plot Keywords:

1930s | John Dillinger | Gangster | Organized Crime | Bank Robber

Awards:

2 nominations

Comentários dos usuários:

Well-Made Cinematically, But Shallow

Cast

James Russo	...	Walter Dietrich
David Wenham	...	Harry 'Pete' Pierpont
Christian Stolte	...	Charles Makley
Jason Clarke	...	John 'Red' Hamilton
Johnny Depp	...	John Dillinger
John Judd	...	Turnkey
Stephen Dorff	...	Homer Van Meter
Michael Vieau	...	Ed Shouse
John Kishline	...	Guard Dainard
Wesley Walker	...	Jim Leslie
John Scherp	...	Earl Adams
Elena Kenney	...	Viola Norris
William Nero Jr.	...	Farm Boy
Channing Tatum	...	Pretty Boy Floyd
Christian Bale	...	Melvin Purvis

MPAA:

Rated R for gangster violence and some language.

Duração:

140 min

País:

USA

Língua:

English

Color:

Color | Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

2,35 : 1

Som:

SDDS | Dolby Digital | DTS

Censura:

USA:R (certificate #45171) | Ireland:15A | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:14A (Alberta/British Columbia/Manitoba/Ontario) | South Korea:15 | UK:15 | Switzerland:14 (canton of Vaud) | Switzerland:14 (canton of Geneva) | Singapore:NC-16 | New Zealand:R16 | Mexico:B15 | Hong Kong:IIB | Australia:MA (Violence) | Norway:15 | Finland:K-15 | Philippines:R-13 | Sweden:15 | Brazil:16 | Argentina:13 | Portugal:M/16 | Iceland:16 | Germany:12 (w) | India:A | Netherlands:16 | Taiwan:R-12 | Japan:G

Filming Locations:

Aurora, Illinois, USA

Company:

Universal Pictures

Pegadinha:

Due to the concern of grave robbers, officials at Crown Hill Cemetery persuaded Dillinger's father to have his famous son's grave re-opened so as to place staggered concrete slabs, along with poured concrete and chicken wire, in and around the grave as a permanent deterrent. He'd already been offered $10,000 from a Wisconsin carnival man to "borrow" Dillinger's body for his show, an offer that was fiercely rejected. The grave work was done within a day or two of the initial burial. The identity of who paid for this expensive preventative measure is unknown.

Goofs:

Factual errors: Early in the film, soon after the Racine robbery, November 20, 1933, a radio announcer is heard referring to Dillinger as Public Enemy No. 1. Dillinger wasn't named Public Enemy No. 1 until June 22, 1934, his 31st birthday.

Quotes:

John Dillinger: I was raised on a farm in Moooresville, Indiana. My mama ran out on us when I was three, my daddy beat the hell out of me cause he didn't know no better way to raise me. I like baseball, movies, good clothes, fast cars, whiskey, and you... what else you need to know?

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "The Rotten Tomatoes Show: Watchmen/Shuttle/12 (#1.2)" (2009)

Soundtrack:

King Porter Stomp

Well-Made Cinematically, But Shallow

Who was John Dillinger? We all know he was a flamboyant criminal who robbed banks, but who WAS he? The question of who Dillinger WAS is far more interesting than the question of what Dillinger DID, but this film, sadly, chose only to concentrate seriously on the latter and gave up almost immediately on the former.

This film goes out of its way--with a poor grasp of history's time-line, by the way--to show us what Dillinger did and who he hung around with, but it does next to nothing to explore who Dillinger was as a person or even as a criminal. It hints that Dillinger might be a passionate lover and loyal friend, but shows us little evidence aside from a few thrown-together seduction scenes (which make his girlfriend/heroine look like a dim-witted pushover) and an awkward love scene.

Even Dillinger's foil, Melvin Purvis, is a mystery in Mann's hands. Did he care about justice at all, or was he just a fascist on a personal crusade? Was he competent in the least or was he just a bumbling idiot? Squinty-eyed stares can only convey so much, after all.

Michael Mann seems to be in a terrible hurry to tell this story, as he is stuck between the rock of having to relate a relatively complete "crime-ography" of a notorious American gangster and the hard place of keeping the movie shorter than 2 1/2 hours.

As a result, a beautifully shot and edited movie that had a lot of promise ends up little more than a dumb, shoot-'em-up action movie wearing the fedora of "historical romance." Good for a date, but not a serious film.

Grade: C+. Things to look for: Mann's ham-handed and laughably obvious political commentary on the use of torture about 2/3 of the way through the movie; psychotically trigger-happy Baby Face Nelson well-played by Stephen Graham; cool old products (Zenth radio); great fashion sense.