Released July 15, Public Enemies tells the story of John Dillinger, the FBI’s Public Enemy Number 1 in 1933. Reviews run hot and cold on this film, but everyone can agree that it is beautifully filmed and brings to life the 1930s and the period of lawlessness and despair that was America’s Great Depression. The film adapts Bryan Burrough’s book Public Enemies: America’s Greatest Crime Wave and the Birth of the FBI, 1933-34, and is based on the true story of FBI agent Melvin Purvis (played by Christian Bale) and his efforts to reign in outlaws John Dillinger (Johnny Depp), Pretty Boy Floyd, and Baby Face Nelson. Depp’s Dillinger comes across as a likeable guy, with a certain integrity and loyalty to his friends — even though he is a criminal. The film begins soon after Dillinger’s release from prison for a small-time robbery, and continues through an ill-fated year of high-stakes bank robberies, netting his gang over $300,000 in cash. Interspersed with the stalking by the FBI, the escapes by Dillinger and his gang, and the double-crosses by other members of the criminal underworld, is the romance between Dillinger and Billie Frechette (Marion Cotillard).