Oh yeah…I gotta see this. I like it that Johnny is not playing Jack Sparrow for once.
Instead, he’s playing Public Enemy #1: John Dillinger. And according to my research, Mr. Dillinger got a bad rap from the American “justice” system, despite robbing dozens of banks and living like a celebrity.
According to the book, Curious Facts About John Dillinger & J. Edgar Hoover (Kekionga Press, 2008), John was a nice guy who was beaten down early by the legal system; sent to prison for something that should have gotten him probation at the worst.
Along with an older accomplice (an ex-convict who actually got off easy), he tried to rob the neighborhood grocery store in small-town Indiana. It went wrong and the guys ran away with no money. Then, this:
Ed Singleton (who hired a lawyer), even though he had a prior felony conviction and was ten years older than [Dillinger], received a 2-to-14-year sentence and was released after two years. Dillinger [whose parents were told by town police officials that John didn’t need a lawyer] was given 10 to 20 years.
The long sentence Dillinger received for a first-time offense, the betrayal on the part of the authorities, and the light sentence his partner received formed a bitterness in him which grew more intense with every year behind bars. ‘This made a criminal out of Dillinger,’ [then-governor of Indiana Paul] McNutt concluded.”
John Dillinger was actually a polite, nice boy who lived on a farm with his dad and step-mother. [In fact, Dillinger’s great nephew has sued – successfully and often – to preserve his great uncle’s reputation as a gangster, but not a killer. He also, of course, openly cashes in on the use of his uncle’s name, much to the consternation of his critics.]
Possibly more “curious” than the facts about Dillinger in this book are the wacko stories about that schmuck J. Edgar Hoover. Whoa. That’s a post entirely unto itself.
Anyway…
Check out the trailer for Public Enemies:
Yay…I’m there.
Johnny seems like a better candidate for Hoover. What’s up with him playing the normal character? Isn’t that Orlando Bloom’s responsibility???
I saw the trailer for this before Watchmen. I’m always leery of Jonny Depp movies after the debacle that was Pirates of The Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest. Still to this day it’s the worst movie I’ve ever seen, but Public Enemies does look pretty good, and I’m kind of excited about seeing it. I just hope I don’t get let down again, haha.
I’ve got no problem with the Depp, but the video-looking motion makes the trailer look like a badly shot masterpiece theater bit on PBS. Not that there is anything wrong with PBS….but this is the movies…I want some realism!
So, Stanley….
What about this “badly shot Masterpiece Theater” thing? What’s bad about it? Inquiring minds want to learn.