Johnny Depp Plays Gangster in Public Enemies
Monday June 29, 2009
John Dillinger was one of the most charismatic gangsters of the 1930s, and even after all these decades we continue to be fascinated by his story. In the gritty drama Public Enemies, based on the book by Bryan Burrough and directed by Michael Mann, Johnny Depp brings Dillinger to life and makes audiences root for the bad guy - similar to how average Americans rooted for the real gangster back in his heyday. During the Great Depression, Dillinger was viewed as a Robin Hood-type figure, stealing from banks while making sure not to take any money from the working men and women who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time when Dillinger's gang hit town.In LA for a press conference in support of the Universal Pictures' film, Depp talked about tackling the role of a man the FBI named 'Public Enemy Number One'. Read More...
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(Photo © Universal Pictures)
Comments
For accuracy, see John Toland’s The Dillinger Days, Matt Erickson and Bill Thornbro at http://www.nwi.com/extras/pdfs/Dillinger.pdf and Brian Burrough’s awesome Public Enemies for which the movie is loosely based. My understanding is that all involved in the project, but especially Depp and mIchael Mann, were freaks about research and documentation.
I was a bit disappointed by the movie. I don’t think it gave justice to the entire time period and didn’t really get into Dillinger.
I thought the movie was awesome. Johnny Depp was convincing as Dillinger and I was impressed with the details in the movie. It seemed pretty Depression-era to me. I downloaded the pdf after I saw the movie and it was pretty true to the era. Thanks.