They Came Two by Two: Epic Dramatic Duos

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WHEN IT COMES to summer blockbusters, studios and audiences alike normally clamor for flashy style over finessed substance, which is how films like "Transformers," "Pirates of the Caribbean" and "X-Men" rake in the millions. It's not about the acting ability of the films' main stars (although Johnny Depp was a dashingly handsome Capt. Jack Sparrow), but about how many explosions, special effects and cool CGI a director can cram into a couple of hours — just watch some previews for "The Final Destination" to figure out what we're talking about.

But before you shell out $12 to watch more dumb, pretty and skanky teenagers get offed in the most ridiculous of ways, why not watch some actually good actors instead?

Enter "Public Enemies," the Michael Mann drama/thriller focused on bank robber John Dillinger and the Feds — specifically agent Melvin Purvis — chasing him. Starring Depp as Dillinger and Christian Bale as Purvis, the film — which is also an adaptation of the book "Public Enemies: America's Greatest Crime Wave and the Birth of the FBI, 1933-34" by Bryan Burrough — looks like one of this summer's best bets.

In their fantastic duo-ness, Depp and Bale are following in the footsteps of lots of other great acting pairs who've lit up the silver screen with their acting chops (and let's face it, good looks). Here are five collaborative favorites:

» LEONARDO DICAPRIO AND DANIEL DAY-LEWIS, "GANGS OF NEW YORK"
Leonardo DiCaprio is Martin Scorsese's most recent best friend (he's starred in "The Aviator" and "The Departed," and their upcoming film, "Shutter Island," comes out in October), and we don't have a problem with that. Scorsese has brought the "Titanic" star to new heights with gritty, intensely dramatic roles that have nothing to do with boats.

In "Gangs of New York," DiCaprio rocked as the revenge-seeking Amsterdam, returned to the city to round up those discontent with the anti-immigrant stance of Bill the Butcher. Day-Lewis holds his own, of course, as the skin-crawlingly ruthless Bill, perfectly capturing the insanity of the Butcher, a man who comes to love Amsterdam as his own but immediately turns on him when he learns of Amsterdam's true intentions. Their final battle, set during the New York Draft Riots, is a hazy, confusing fight for street authority in which DiCaprio and Day-Lewis both capture the importance — and fleeting quality — of the gang wars. As Amsterdam says, New York would be rebuilt and evolve as though he and the Butcher "were never here" — but at least DiCaprio and Day-Lewis do justice to that period of the city's history.

» SAMUEL L. JACKSON AND JOHN TRAVOLTA, "PULP FICTION"
Quentin Tarantino made his mark on film history with "Pulp Fiction," the absurdly violent, inappropriately funny crime flick, and while it had tons of things going for it — the ridiculous dialogue; the confusingly (but revolutionary) nonlinear storyline; a coke-addicted, heroin-overdosing leading lady in Uma Thurman — it would never have worked without John Travolta and Samuel L. Jackson.

Travolta completely sheds his pretty-boy persona (damn you, "Saturday Night Fever!") for the role of Vincent Vega, a hitman working for Marsellus Wallace (Ving Rhames) who is retro-obsessed, orders his steak "bloody as hell" and has no problem killing anyone who crosses Wallace's path. His fellow hitman, Jules Winnfield (the phenomenally badass Samuel L. Jackson), also serves as his foil - calm when Vincent isn't and collected when Vincent freaks out, Winnfield is the remorseless, professional one who claims to be "the tyranny of evil men" but also saves a diner full of innocent people from two robbers. Together, with their married-couple-esque banter and unflinching loyalty to one another, Travolta and Jackson created one of the coolest duos ever — just look at the picture of them aiming their guns together for proof.

» BRAD PITT AND EDWARD NORTON, "FIGHT CLUB"
Brad Pitt and Edward Norton became cult figures with "Fight Club," director David Fincher's adaptation of Chuck Palahniuk's novel about a nameless protagonist who, after creating an underground fight club as a venue for his own frustration and anger with his life, unknowingly starts a revolution challenging society's values and ideas of male identity. Though the film failed at the box office — it made $100 million worldwide on a $63 million budget, but split critics and didn't give 20th Century Fox the returns they expected — it has since become infamous, not just for Fincher's inclusion of Palahniuk's homoerotic elements (who really bathes in a tub with another guy watching?) and the film's dilapidated, dirty feel but also because of Pitt's and Norton's ridiculous chemistry.

As two parts of the same man (spoiler!), Pitt and Norton work off each other to create Tyler Durden, with Pitt perfectly capturing his edgy, no-holds-barred, doesn't-give-a-crap personality and Norton displaying his meeker, more hopeless and fatalistic everyman side. Throughout the whole film — during their first fight, the first time they steal human fat to make soap, hitting rock bottom — Pitt and Norton are two jagged halves of one whole, and we can guarantee that if Russell Crowe and Matt Damon had been cast (some of the studio's desired actors for the film), the film would have been an epic fail in every way possible.

» TIM ROBBINS AND MORGAN FREEMAN, "THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION"
Much like "Fight Club," "The Shawshank Redemption" made only $3 million more than its budget when it was released in theaters in 1994, but since then, the film has made it so much bigger — it's No. 1 on IMDB's Top 250 list, has ranked in the top five on film magazine Empire's reader polls since 2004 and enjoys a healthy cable life on TNT and other broadcast networks. And while that success has a lot to do with the Stephen King novella, "Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption," that the film is based on, you can't forget Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman - their compelling turns in the film as Andy and Red carried the film.

As the wrongfully imprisoned Andy (incorrectly convicted for the murder of his cheating wife and her lover), Robbins grows on you, his soft-spoken, wide-eyed demeanor supported by his generous, loyal personality. And as Red, Freeman is at the top of his game, becoming the friend and mentor that helps Andy keep his sanity during his years in prison. The two form a bond that continues on the outside, and their unlikely friendship and its message — that "hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies" — is enough to make anyone tear up.

» AL PACINO AND ROBERT DE NIRO, "THE GODFATHER PART II"
"The Godfather: Part II" is one of the best films, ever, and it's really quite simple to figure out why: The parallel corruption of Vito Corleone (depicted in flashbacks by Robert De Niro, who earned an Academy Award for his work) and his son, Michael Corleone (Al Pacino, who does a fantastic follow-up to his role in the first film). Watching both De Niro and Pacino as they play men trying to do good by their families and communities while also becoming more and more corrupt in the process is harrowing and mesmerizing, and though De Niro and Pacino don't appear in any scenes together, they need each other to make the film complete — and with an Academy Award for Best Picture and a 98 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes, it looks like they did a pretty good job.

Written by Express contributor Roxana Hadadi
Photos courtesy Universal Studios, Miramax, Photofest, 20th Century Fox, Michael Weinstein and Paramount Home