Spring Break
Public Enemy, or public hero?
Gangster flick leaves viewers with questions about right and wrong.
By: Logan West
Issue date: 7/2/09 Section: Features
Dillinger is arrested early in his successful career. He gets out of many situations and prisons, but his tragic flaw is the loyalty he has to his lover Billie Frechette, played by Marion Cotillard, a simple girl among the public whom Dillinger picks out to join him in the exciting ride that is his life.
His pride and loyalty lead him to Chicago again and again. Eventually he is left alone, and his chase for freedom leads him further and further down the rabbit hole into jobs he does not want to pull with people he does not trust. He continues to believe one last score will put him over the top and allow him to run away forever. This all leads to a climactic and sorrowful ending, because Dillinger refuses to leave Billie behind.
Toward the end of the film, there are unexpected turns that make you wonder, when will it end? Where are they going with this? Open-ended questions ensue about how he will save Billie. However, these are summed up after the lengthy two-hour and 20 minutes run time.
Dillinger's tragedy is not being able to give up on his ethics, no matter how distorted they might be to the rest of us. This leads to the eventual victory of the FBI, but only after the Bureau improves itself by adapting its style to fight modern crime. Thanks to criminals like Dillinger, the FBI became the government agency we know today. Audiences will be left with questions about what is really right and wrong after viewing this gangster film.
2.5 out 4 gig 'ems
Logan West is a senior political science major
His pride and loyalty lead him to Chicago again and again. Eventually he is left alone, and his chase for freedom leads him further and further down the rabbit hole into jobs he does not want to pull with people he does not trust. He continues to believe one last score will put him over the top and allow him to run away forever. This all leads to a climactic and sorrowful ending, because Dillinger refuses to leave Billie behind.
Toward the end of the film, there are unexpected turns that make you wonder, when will it end? Where are they going with this? Open-ended questions ensue about how he will save Billie. However, these are summed up after the lengthy two-hour and 20 minutes run time.
Dillinger's tragedy is not being able to give up on his ethics, no matter how distorted they might be to the rest of us. This leads to the eventual victory of the FBI, but only after the Bureau improves itself by adapting its style to fight modern crime. Thanks to criminals like Dillinger, the FBI became the government agency we know today. Audiences will be left with questions about what is really right and wrong after viewing this gangster film.
2.5 out 4 gig 'ems
Logan West is a senior political science major
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