Public Enemies

I'm old school. The best gangster movie EVER will always be The Untouchables. Forget that Kevin Costner was the lead (this was before he became a douche bag). I have 5 words for you: Robert de Niro and Sean Connery. However, Johnny Depp and Christian Bale aren't too shabby either. Add in a little Marion Cotillard (if you have not seen her in La Vie en Rose, you seriously need to), and I'm all in.

On an aside, every famous person in Hollywood was in this movie. Stephen Dorff, Channing Tatum, Rory Cochrane, Carey Mulligan, Emilie de Ravin, Billy Crudup, Giovanni Ribisi, Diana Krall, Shawn Hatosy, Lili Taylor, and Leelee Sobieski are just the names I recognized.

Public Enemies is the story of FBI Agent Melvin Purvis (Christian Bale) and his attempt to apprehend bank robber John Dillinger (Johnny Depp), while Dillinger is wooing Billie Frechette (Marion Cotillard).

This movie was truly a movie for everyone. There were lots of gun fights and bank robberies for the guys to get their action fix and a truly moving love story (of sorts) for the girls to gush over. For me, the star of this movie was Marion Cotillard. I fully believed she was a half French, half Native American girl swept up in a love affair with a dashing ne'er do well. Christian Bale also did a top notch job as a conflicted FBI agent, torn between ethics and his desire to get the job done. He faced a Machiavellian decision - does the end justify the means?

There is a particular scene when Marion Cotillard's "Billie" has been captured and is being "interrogated" by an agent. This "interrogation" involved him verbally and physically abusing her in an attempt to get her to tell them where Dillinger is. Christian Bale's character, Agent Purvis, rescues her from this degradation, and when she is too weak to walk, carries her out of the room himself. I thought this particular scene spoke to the kind of guy that Agent Purvis was.

While this movie blurs the lines, and almost makes him the "bad" guy, he really was the hero of this story. Hollywood likes to make outlaws of yesteryear, but it must be remembered that there was nothing romantic about robbing banks and killing people.

This was a good movie. Not great, but good. If you have a free afternoon, definitely check it out. There are a lot crappier ways to pass the time (In the Name of King, anyone?).