What do you think?
Rate this book
Public Enemies -Screenplay
Screenplay. Dated November, 2007
Unknown Binding
1 person want to read
About the author
Ronan Bennett
17 books48 followersRonan Bennett is a novelist and screenwriter who was born and brought up in Northern Ireland and now lives in London. His third novel, The Catastrophist, was nominated for the Whibread award in 1998. Havoc, in Its Third Year (2004) was listed for the Booker prize. Havoc has been adapted into a motion picture to be released later in 2012. His latest novel is Zugzwang. His television drama Top Boy will be broadcast by Channel 4 in November 2011.
In addition to Havoc and Top Boy, Ronan has an excessive amount of work writing and creating for both television and the screen.
Long before Ronan ever thought of becoming a writer, he did a brief stint in prison for crimes perpetrated by the Irish Republican Army, crimes he was wrongly accused for.
In addition to Havoc and Top Boy, Ronan has an excessive amount of work writing and creating for both television and the screen.
Long before Ronan ever thought of becoming a writer, he did a brief stint in prison for crimes perpetrated by the Irish Republican Army, crimes he was wrongly accused for.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 of 1 review
October 27, 2020
Two quotes stood out to me in this script.
“His gratification is internal. He leaves behind, as he exits, a wake of absurdity. He passed through and they didn't even know. History was made. Like a ghost, has gone.”
...and…
“In this Hollywood version of life, the power of cause and effect operates on the end, as inescapably as gravity. It's a core truth. This is the only end for Blackie Gallagher. And it's as true for John Dillinger in his life as it is for Gallagher. Actions and historical forces have made his time be up.
Dillinger SLOWS the flickering images. His concentration slices time into component parts. Gable exchanges last good-byes. He warns his D.A. friend, Ronald Coleman, not to commute his sentence. The images play on Dillinger's face. They take him over-alone in the packed theater while 25 Federal Agents and five East Chicago cops wait outside.”
The script is mostly standard, but those two sections are interesting. Also there’s a bit about how Karpis survives even Hoover, which made me want to put this thing down and go read about him instead. Good insight for the actor though.
In fact, there are multiple instances in this script where insights for the characters are given through descriptions/stage direction, whereas the film they come off as rather flat. Was there a plan to shoot this film considerably differently than what actually ended up getting shot?
That’s not to say this is a bad script. In fact, there are scenes that should have made the film. Both are near the end. One is where Karpis is arrested and goes in without a fight. The cops, expecting him to have fought, don’t have cuffs. Hoover thus ties up Karpis’ hands with a tie and takes the credit for the arrest - harkening back to the beginning where the congressman notes that Hoover has never made a single arrest. The second scene is where Purvis resigns in a typical “good cop leaves” scene, but Hoover “...couldn’t care less.”
“His gratification is internal. He leaves behind, as he exits, a wake of absurdity. He passed through and they didn't even know. History was made. Like a ghost, has gone.”
...and…
“In this Hollywood version of life, the power of cause and effect operates on the end, as inescapably as gravity. It's a core truth. This is the only end for Blackie Gallagher. And it's as true for John Dillinger in his life as it is for Gallagher. Actions and historical forces have made his time be up.
Dillinger SLOWS the flickering images. His concentration slices time into component parts. Gable exchanges last good-byes. He warns his D.A. friend, Ronald Coleman, not to commute his sentence. The images play on Dillinger's face. They take him over-alone in the packed theater while 25 Federal Agents and five East Chicago cops wait outside.”
The script is mostly standard, but those two sections are interesting. Also there’s a bit about how Karpis survives even Hoover, which made me want to put this thing down and go read about him instead. Good insight for the actor though.
In fact, there are multiple instances in this script where insights for the characters are given through descriptions/stage direction, whereas the film they come off as rather flat. Was there a plan to shoot this film considerably differently than what actually ended up getting shot?
That’s not to say this is a bad script. In fact, there are scenes that should have made the film. Both are near the end. One is where Karpis is arrested and goes in without a fight. The cops, expecting him to have fought, don’t have cuffs. Hoover thus ties up Karpis’ hands with a tie and takes the credit for the arrest - harkening back to the beginning where the congressman notes that Hoover has never made a single arrest. The second scene is where Purvis resigns in a typical “good cop leaves” scene, but Hoover “...couldn’t care less.”
Displaying 1 of 1 review