Directed by: Michael Mann
Screenplay by: Ronan Bennett, Ann Biderman, Michael Mann
Cast: Johnny Depp, Christian Bale, Marion Cotillard, Billy Crudup, Stephen Dorff, Lili Taylor, Channing Tatum, Emilie de Ravin
Running Time: 139 minutes
Rating: R for gangster violence and some language.
Box Office. $96,202,227 (US total)
Release Date: July 1, 2009
Studio: Universal Pictures
The story of a man whose criminal exploits captivated a nation besieged by financial hardship and who robbed the banks that had impoverished them and outsmarted the authorities, who inspired the first nationwide war on crime, who led a band of accomplished armed robbers, and whose dashing manner and charisma entranced not only a special woman but an entire country: legendary Depression-era outlaw John Dillinger.
No one could stop John Dillinger (Johnny Depp) and his gang. No jail could hold him. His charm and audacious jailbreaks endeared him to almost everyone—from his girlfriend Billie Frechette (Marion Cotillard) to Americans who were looking for a symbol to divert them from their everyday hardships. They found it in the man who took from the banks the monies they felt the banks had wrongly taken from them.
But while the adventures of Dillinger’s gang—later including the sociopathic Baby Face Nelson (Stephen Graham) and robber/ kidnapper Alvin Karpis (Giovanni Ribisi)—thrilled many, J. Edgar Hoover (Billy Crudup) planned to exploit the outlaw’s capture as a way to elevate his Bureau of Investigation into the national police force that became the FBI. He made Dillinger America’s first Public Enemy Number One and sent in Purvis, the dashing “Clark Gable of the FBI,” to snare him.
However, Dillinger and his gang outwitted and outgunned Purvis’ men in wild chases and shootouts. Only after importing a crew of lawmen from the Dallas bureau and orchestrating epic betrayals—from the infamous “Lady in Red” (Branka Katic) to Chicago crime boss Frank Nitti (Bill Camp)—were Purvis, the FBI and their new crew of gunfighters able to close in on their prey.
Drawn back to the very city where his obsession with both Frechette and bank robbing began, Dillinger, for once and for all, ended this pursuit by Purvis. And when all was said and done, the entire country learned that with the death of one of its heroes came the birth of a legend.
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