11 best none mafia books

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The world’s most infamous crime organization had done very well for itself in the Old Country, but did not truly blossom until its nefarious emissaries reached the shores of America. Featuring revealing interviews with victims and perpetrators of mob violence, combined with gripping archival film footage, this 5-DVD collection examines the trajectory of La Cosa Nostra’s (“our thing”) development into our collective problem.

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From award-winning director Michael Mann (Heat, Collateral) comes the film inspired by one of the country’s most captivating and infamous outlaws — John Dillinger. Johnny Depp (Pirates of the Caribbean series) stars as the charismatic and elusive bank robber marked by the FBI as America’s first “Public Enemy Number One.” Academy Award® winner Marion Cotillard (La Vie en Rose) plays Billie Frechette, the only woman capable of capturing his heart. Hunted relentlessly by top FBI agent Melvin Purvis (Christian Bale, The Dark Knight), Dillinger engages in an escalating game of outrunning and outgunning the FBI, culminating in an explosive, legendary showdown. “It’s a landmark crime saga” (Peter Travers, Rolling Stone).

Since crime auteur Michael Mann, like his protagonists, plays by his own rules, Public Enemies eschews back story and motivation for a closely-observed, action-packed examination of men at work. FBI supremo J. Edgar Hoover (Billy Crudup) kick-starts a nationwide manhunt when he proclaims John Dillinger (Johnny Depp, in top form) Public Enemy #1. Hoover taps Agent Melvin Purvis (Christian Bale) to bring the Tommy Gun-toting bank robber in by any means necessary (the agency also targets Pretty Boy Floyd and Baby Face Nelson). If Dillinger had split the scene then and there, he might have enjoyed a happier fate, but he falls for beautiful coat-check girl Billie Frechette (Marion Cotillard, whose open-hearted performance makes her the most sympathetic character in the film). In the end, though, Dillinger is the captain of his own destiny: his loyalty to his girl and his gang overpowers his desire to live free. Though the director also set his first film, Thief, and third series, Crime Story, in his native Chicago, Public Enemies plays more like Heat in Depression-era garb. In that L.A. policier, Al Pacino's cop develops a grudging respect for Robert De Niro's criminal, but letting a lawbreaker go free isn't an option. In this case, however, the tight-lipped Purvis never develops the same sort of esteem for Dillinger--or Hoover--making him the more tragic figure. If Public Enemies is less overtly commercial than The Untouchables or Bugsy, it's still the best mainstream gangster epic in ages and ranks among Mann's finest works. --Kathleen C. Fennessy



Stills from Public Enemies (Click for larger image)

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Mob wife Angela DeMarco (Michelle Pfeiffer) has everything laundered money can buy. But when she files for divorce, she risks trading her stilettos for a pair of concrete shoes in this killer comedy also starring Matthew Modine, Dean Stockwell, Mercedes Ruehl and Alec Baldwin.

Jonathan Demme's last idiosyncratic film before he went all mainstream and "serious" with The Silence of the Lambs and Philadelphia is a wacky, energetic comedy that looks at mob life with affection, and established Michelle Pfeiffer as both a stunning leading lady and a consummate character actress. When Angela DeMarco (Pfeiffer), fed up with a house filled with furniture and appliances that "fell off a truck," asks her husband, hit man Frank "the Cucumber" (Alec Baldwin), for a divorce, he laughs at her and tells her she'll never escape the mob's clutches. Opportunity arises, though, in the form of Frank's untimely demise, after he's efficiently dispatched by mob head Tony "the Tiger" (Dean Stockwell, in an Oscar-nominated performance) for having an affair with Tony's mistress. Seizing her opportunity, Angela flees Long Island for the city, taking her son and donating all her possessions to Goodwill. Angela thinks she's finally free, but in reality not only does a lovesick Tony have his eye on her, but she's also being spied on by a government agent (Matthew Modine) who thinks she can lead him to the mob boss. Wild and all over the place, Married to the Mob is a genial mess, grounded by Pfeiffer's phenomenal performance, which perfectly mixes comedy and pathos. Her tentative first steps into mob-free life are both comic and touching to watch, whether she's shyly flirting with Modine or fending off the lecherous advances of Stockwell. Mercedes Ruehl, as Tony's big-haired, slightly crazy, put-upon wife, almost steals the show, especially in the film's shoot-'em-up finale, set in Miami and featuring the wonderful Trey Wilson as Modine's FBI boss. The movie is decidedly slack in places, and suffered some damage in the editing room (take a look at the copious outtakes in the film's end credits), but with its high spirits and delightful details, Married to the Mob will definitely make you an offer you can't refuse. --Mark Englehart