Public Enemies

Michael Mann directed and cowrote this adaptation of Bryan Burroughs’s book, whose subtitle was ‘‘America’s Greatest Crime Wave and the Birth of the FBI, 1933-34.’’ Set during the Great Depression, the movie’s been sculpted into a crime thriller involving FBI Agent Melvin Purvis (Christian Bale; where does he find the time?) and his mission to curb Chicago’s crime sprees, chiefly by bringing down the gangster John Dillinger (Johnny Depp). With, among many others, Billy Crudup as J. Edgar Hoover, Marion Cotillard as Dillinger gal, and Channing Tatum, aptly enough, as Pretty Boy Floyd. Could be the timeliest political blockbuster of the season. After ‘‘Year One,’’ of course.

— Wesley Morris and Ty Burr, Globe Staff