Depression-era bank robber John Dillinger's charm and audacity endear him to much of America's downtrodden public, but he's also a thorn in the side of J. Edgar Hoover and the fledgling FBI. Desperate to capture the elusive outlaw, Hoover makes Dillinger his first Public Enemy Number One and assigns his top agent, Melvin Purvis, the task of bringing him in dead or alive.
Cinematography
Mann shot on digital before it was cool—night scenes look like wet asphalt dreams
Direction
Michael Mann's obsessive attention to period firearms and period vibes
Acting
Depp's Dillinger: all swagger, no psychology—deliberately hollow and magnetic
Director
Michael Mann
Johnny Depp
John Dillinger
Christian Bale
Melvin Purvis
Marion Cotillard
Billie Frechette
Jason Clarke
'Red' Hamilton
Rory Cochrane
Agent Carter Baum
Billy Crudup
J. Edgar Hoover
Stephen Dorff
Homer Van Meter
Stephen Lang
Charles Winstead
John Ortiz
Phil D'Andrea
Giovanni Ribisi
Alvin Karpis
David Wenham
Harry 'Pete' Pierpont
John Michael Bolger
Martin Zarkovich
Bill Camp
Frank Nitti
Matt Craven
Gerry Campbell
Don Frye
Clarence Hurt
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
The real John Dillinger's wooden gun escape from Crown Point jail is recreated beat-for-beat. Mann visited the actual cell.
This flopped in 2009 because audiences wanted superheroics, not a digital meditation on fame and death. Ironically, Dillinger would have understood.
US
