Video: ‘Public Enemies’ Trailer With Johnny Depp, Christian Bale

CHICAGO – One of our most highly anticipated films of 2009 has to be Michael Mann’s “Public Enemies” and we just had to share one of the best movie trailers in a long time. The film, a lot of which was shot in Chicago, stars Johnny Depp, Christian Bale, Marion Cotillard, Billy Crudup, Channing Tatum, Leelee Sobieski, Giovanni Ribisi, Emilie de Ravin, and Lili Taylor. The film opens on July 1st, 2009. Not soon enough.

Synopsis:

“In the action-thriller Public Enemies, acclaimed filmmaker Michael Mann directs Johnny Depp, Christian Bale and Academy Award® winner Marion Cotillard in the story of legendary Depression-era outlaw John Dillinger (Depp) — the charismatic bank robber whose lightning raids made him the number one target of J. Edgar Hoover’s fledgling FBI and its top agent, Melvin Purvis (Bale), and a folk hero to much of the downtrodden public.

No one could stop Dillinger and his gang. No jail could hold him. His charm and audacious jailbreaks endeared him to almost everyone — from his girlfriend Billie Frechette (Cotillard) to an American public who had no sympathy for the banks that had plunged the country into the Depression.

But while the adventures of Dillinger’s gang — later including the sociopathic Baby Face Nelson (Stephen Graham) and Alvin Karpis (Giovanni Ribisi) — thrilled many, Hoover (Billy Crudup) hit on the idea of exploiting 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.”

However, Dillinger and his gang outwitted and outgunned Purvis’ men in wild chases and shootouts. Only after importing a crew of Western ex-lawmen (newly baptized as agents) and orchestrating epic betrayals — from the infamous “Lady in Red” to the Chicago crime boss Frank Nitti — were Purvis, the FBI and their new crew of gunfighters able to close in on Dillinger.”

See our 36-image “Public Enemies” slideshow with high-quality stills.
See our 12-image “Public Enemies” slideshow at the Biograph in Chicago.
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By BRIAN TALLERICO Content Director HollywoodChicago.com brian@hollywoodchicago.com