The Public Enemy and The Town are vaguely related, at best. Both Tom and Doug, the main characters of the movie, are criminals. But, how far does this relation really extend?
The Public Enemy is all about how criminals should not be glorified. Yet, the main character is a criminal. The film introduces us to a young Tom, who has, on his own will, decided to get involved in petty crimes in order to get money for himself. When Tom gets older, he gets involved in a crime that goes wrong and one of his friends, Larry, gets killed. The rest of the movie is about how Tom becomes a hired gang member for Paddy. Throughout the movie, though, we never side with Tom, except for maybe at the near end when Tom’s other friend, Matt, dies, and when Tom gets kidnapped from the hospital.
The Town, on the other hand, wants us to think of Doug as the antihero, and wants us to feel that Doug should be able to get away and not get in trouble for the crimes he has done. This film emphasizes the fact that Charlestown has always been full of criminals, and that families have passed down the criminal profession from generation to generation. We also learn that though Doug becomes part of a gang because of his dad’s history and brother-like friend, he does not actually enjoy the business and wants to start anew with Claire.
Though The Public Enemy and The Town share a common theme of the life of a criminal, they do not share much else. The Public Enemy is a warning to its viewers that criminals and thugs should be stopped and that they are only nuisances to our lives. The Town, however, serves to give a humanizing view on criminals. It wants us to remember that not all criminals chose the lives they live, and when they want to redeem themselves from crime, there can never be an escape from punishment, either from their gang or from law enforcement.
Nice closing paragraph you made some great points.
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