loading loading...

Public Enemies Details

2009 DVD Certificate 15.gif
  • Rated:
  • 70
  • from 914 members

Based on author Bryan Burrough's ambitious tome 'Public Enemies: America's Greatest Crime Wave and the Birth of the FBI, 1933-43', director Michael Mann (HEAT, LAST OF THE MOHICANS) has crafted a sprawling historical crime drama that follows the efforts of top FBI agent Melvin Purvis (Christian Bale - BATMAN BEGINS, AMERICAN .. Read more

Starring Johnny Depp, Christian Bale, Marion Cotillard, Jason Clarke
Director Michael Mann
Genres Drama

loading loading...

Public Enemies

Based on author Bryan Burrough's ambitious tome 'Public Enemies: America's Greatest Crime Wave and the Birth of the FBI, 1933-43', director Michael Mann (HEAT, LAST OF THE MOHICANS) has crafted a sprawling historical crime drama that follows the efforts of top FBI agent Melvin Purvis (Christian Bale - BATMAN BEGINS, AMERICAN PSYCHO) in capturing notorious bank robber John Dillinger. A folk hero to the American public thanks to his penchant for robbing the banks that many people believed responsible for the Great Depression, charming bandit Dillinger (Johnny Depp - PIRATES OF TEH CARIBBEAN) was virtually unstoppable at the height of his criminal career; no jail could hold him, and his exploits endeared him to the common people while making headlines across the country. J. Edgar Hoover's (Billy Crudup - WATCHMEN, ALMOST FAMOUS) FBI was just coming into formation, and what better way for the ambitious lawman to transform his fledgling Bureau of Investigation into a national police force than to capture the gang that always gets away? Determined to bust Dillinger and his crew, which also included sociopathic Baby Face Nelson (Stephen Graham - DOGHOUSE, THIS IS ENGLAND) and Alvin Karpis (Giovanni Ribisi - THE GIFT, SAVING PRIVATE RYAN), Hoover christened Dillinger the country's very first Public Enemy Number One, and unleashed Purvis to take them down by whatever means necessary. But Purvis underestimated Dillinger's ingenuity as a master criminal, and after embarking on a frantic series of chases and shoot-outs, the dashing agent humbly surmised that he was in over his head. Outwitted and outgunned, Purvis knew that his only hope for busting Dillinger's gang was to baptize a crew of Western ex-lawmen as official agents, and orchestrate a series of betrayals so cunning that even America's criminal mastermind wouldn't know what hit him. Marion Cotillard, Channing Tatum, and Stephen Dorff co-star.

Starring Johnny Depp, Christian Bale, Marion Cotillard, Jason Clarke, Rory Cochrane, Billy Crudup, Stephen Dorff, Stephen Lang, John Ortiz, Giovanni Ribisi
Director Michael Mann
Studio UNIVERSAL PICTURES UK
Run time DVD: 2 hrs 23 mins
Blu-ray: 2 hrs 23 mins
Certificate DVD Certificate 15.gif
Genres Drama
Language English
Released DVD: unknown
Blu-ray: unknown
Production year: 2009
Format DVD
  • Critics' reviews (2) of Public Enemies

    View all
  • Johnny Depp takes on the role of infamous gangster John Dillinger... read more »

    • Avatar image
    • Tom Charity, 
    • LOVEFiLM
  • Most helpful member's review of Public Enemies

    View all
  • 15 out of 16 people found this review helpful

    Rated - 1 star [Highly rated reviewer]

    terrible

    This film never grabbed me from the first. I was waiting for something to happen, but everything was merely superficial. There was no real decent plot to follow, no change or interest in the characters, and the direction was useless and pointless.

    I found the 30s theme interesting, and think they went to great length to bring the audience a 'realistic' feel of the 1930s, and of the depression; also, the style of direction initially caught my eye - however these, let's say, stylistic monouvres became the only thing of interest, and I continued to wonder - where is this film going?

    However, it didn't go anywhere, and is another terrible indictment on the recent films coming out of hollywood. Do not rent this film if you are looking for a decent story, If you liked the untouchables, you might find this film interesting.

    Terrible, what a waste.

      • mikey77 from Glasgow
  • Most recent members' review of Public Enemies

    View all
  • 3 out of 3 people found this review helpful

    Rated - 2 stars [Highly rated reviewer]

    shock

    All I can say is I was very disappointment at this movie,

    Both the lead's are great actors and a host of very good supporting actors which seemed to be hidden away through out most of the movie,

    I found myself wondering how could this movie fail,

    You find yourself thinking, don't worry, it will get better, the and then you realise that's two hours of your life, gone, gone forever, be warned.

    The acting and the scriped seemed very forced with actors that everyone knows are far better, I like all the actors in this movie and have liked most of the movies, yet i have found myself disapointed,

    come on the remake.

      • spellcheak from Peterborough
  • News and features

    View all
    Public Enemies

    Public Enemies

    • 30 Jun 2009

    Billie Frechette (Marion Cotillard) isn’t used to swanky restaurants. A hat-check girl, she’s self-conscious about her cheap dress. “Everyone’s looking at me,” she says. “That’s because they’re all about where you come from; not where we’re going,” returns her date, a gallant John Dillinger (Johnny Depp). It’s no secret that where Dillinger is going is an early grave, as he and Billie dimly appreciate. First though, he promises... Read more

  • Image gallery

    View all
  • More like this

    View all

Rating breakdown

914 Member ratings
  • 100
112
  • 90
86
  • 80
203
  • 70
169
  • 60
173
  • 50
67
  • 40
49
  • 30
14
  • 20
28
  • 10
13

Buy from the LOVEFiLM shop


    • Public Enemies - BLU-RAY Version
      Based on author Bryan Burrough's ambitious tome 'Public Enemies: America's Greatest Crime Wave and the Birth of the FBI, 1933-43', director Michael Mann (HEAT, LAST OF THE MOHICANS) has crafted a sprawling historical crime drama that follows the efforts of top FBI agent Melvin Purvis (Christian ...

    • Public Enemies
      Based on author Bryan Burrough's ambitious tome 'Public Enemies: America's Greatest Crime Wave and the Birth of the FBI, 1933-43', director Michael Mann (HEAT, LAST OF THE MOHICANS) has crafted a sprawling historical crime drama that follows the efforts of top FBI agent Melvin Purvis (Christian ...