(Enlarge) He-e-e-r-r-r-e's Johnny! Johnny Depp goes after banks and Marion Cotillard in "Public Enemies," now at area theaters.

Johnny Depp knows how to make pirates and other villains seem charming, so it's not surprising that he puts a killer smile on the face of gangster John Dillinger in "Public Enemies." This well-tailored bad guy doesn't let the Great Depression get him down. Indeed, his Tommy gun is busily employed mowing down a legion of G-men.

"Public Enemies" is nicely, er, executed when it comes to detailing all the bank robberies and prison escapes that made Dillinger such a gangster celebrity and also such an ardently hunted target for the fledgling FBI in the early 1930s.

Director Michael Mann ("Heat," "Manhunter," "Thief") has a masterly control of action sequences in his bluntly titled movies, ensuring that his latest is criminally entertaining. Obviously more graphic than such early '30s gangster classics as "Public Enemy" and "Scarface," "Public Enemies" makes the most of its budget for bullets.

What this movie does, it does well. However, it's not really doing very much. Very little background, biographical or otherwise, is provided for Dillinger, his fellow crooks, and the feds after them. At least the movie's impressively detailed production design gives a general feel for the cultural background; there are minor mistakes, however, such as putting Billie Holiday's songs on the radio several years before the fact.

There really isn't very much criminal psychology here, either, because the director clearly believes that actions speak louder than words. This Dillinger's preening ego and itchy trigger finger keep the movie racing ahead, with little time spared for anything resembling psychological nuance.

One of the few scenes when Mann perceptively makes a thematic connection between Dillinger's actions and the Depression era culture in which he thrived involves the most celebrated incident in this gangster's life, namely, his death. As Dillinger sits in a Chicago movie theater in 1934 watching the devilishly handsome Clark Gable play a racketeer sentenced to death in "Manhattan Melodrama," Mann beautifully orchestrates a cut from Gable's smile to Depp's smile.

The excitement and, yes, glamour of being a gangster are so great that even the risk of being caught and killed adds to the thrill of it all. If you've got to go, going down in a blaze of glory promises to make you an immortal anti-hero.

Although that attitude certainly underpins this Dillinger's crime spree, most of the movie's running time is devoted quite literally to running around from bank to bank. Johnny Depp is such a powerful screen presence as he shoots up the Midwestern towns that such colorful colleagues as Baby Face Nelson (Stephen Graham) and Pretty Boy Floyd (Channing Tatum) don't make as strong an impression as one would expect.

There's fortunately some memorable tension between the elusive Dillinger and the FBI agent who dedicates himself to capturing him, Melvin Purvis (Christian Bale). It's fun watching Dillinger put on disguises and go out in public, practically under the very noses of the uniformed cops and G-men. Even when Purvis closes in on criminal hideouts, Dillinger has a knack for shooting his way to freedom.

This infuriates FBI director J. Edgar Hoover (Billy Crudup), whose grimace is likely to make you smile. Moviegoers know that the plodding FBI has the law on its side, but the clever Dillinger has Johnny Depp inside his dark suit.

As far as Dillinger's love life is concerned, it's difficult to sustain a relationship when the feds are in pursuit. Although Dillinger's girlfriend, Billie Frechette (Marion Cotillard, who won the Oscar for "La Vie en Rose"), has a gun moll toughness to her, she's also sweetly capable of bringing out his gentler qualities.

Considering that the outcome of this true-life tale is so well-known through sources including a book by Bryan Burrough, Mann and his production team are able to bring enough suspense to the storytelling to make more than moviegoers in Chicago sit on the edge of their seats. Grade: B

"Public Enemies" (PG-13) is now playing at area theaters.

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