PUBLIC ENEMIES (15.

Drama/Action/Romance. Johnny Depp, Christian Bale, Marion Cotillard, Stephen Graham, Billy Crudup, Jason Clarke, David Wenham, Stephen Dorff, Adam Mucci. Director: Michael Mann.

PERFECTIONIST director Michael Mann doffs his fedora to Depression-era bank robber John Dillinger in this beautifully-crafted biopic.

Public Enemies surveys a volatile period in America’s history when a group of hoodlums ran rings around J Edgar Hoover and his fledgling Federal Bureau of Investigation.

The battle of wits between the criminal fraternity and the police continues Mann’s fascination with men operating on the fringes of the law, echoing his earlier work in Heat and Miami Vice.

Here, however, there’s a noticeable imbalance in the screenplay co-written by Ronan Bennett and Ann Biderman.

While Dillinger is swaggering and charismatic, brought vividly to life through Johnny Depp’s eye-catching performance, his chief pursuer agent Melvin Purvis is cold and lifeless.

As portrayed by Christian Bale, the lawman is mechanical and almost devoid of emotion.

It would come as no surprise if in the final frames, Purvis turned to the camera and revealed that he was an automaton sent back in time from Bale’s other summer blockbuster, Terminator Salvation.

Mann begins at the Indiana State Penitentiary where Dillinger (Depp) and associate ‘Red’ Hamilton (Clarke) spring a number of their cohorts from the slammer, including Harry Pierpoint (Wenham) and Homer Van Meter (Dorff).

“Let’s go to Chicago, make some money,” roars Dillinger as the gang heads west, relieving the banks of their savings to the embarrassment of the boys in blue.

Hoover (Crudup) pledges to capture America’s first public enemy number one as a demonstration of his department’s ability, enlisting tenacious agent Purvis to lead the nationwide hunt.

While Dillinger’s gang continues to hit headlines, especially when the sociopath Baby Face Nelson (Graham) joins its ranks, Dillinger makes the fatal mistake of falling in love with Billie Frechette (Cotillard).

“Sooner or later, she will go to him or he’s gonna come for her,” grins Purvis, preparing to use Billie as bait to flush Dillinger out of hiding.

Public Enemies masterfully evokes the era with impeccable production design and costumes.

Mann’s loose shooting style, predominantly on handheld cameras, invests the film with a nervous energy that builds in the breathless action sequences.

Violence is brutal but used sparingly to devastating effect, including a horrific interrogation sequence.

Depp brings a roguish charm to his role, and there’s a twinge of sadness when the robber walks to his doom, dying as a folk hero, having lived the life he wanted.