Public Enemies is a 2009 American biographal-crime film directed by Michael Mann and written by Mann, Ronan Bennett and Ann Biderman. It is an adaptation of Bryan Burrough's non-fiction book Public Enemies: America's Greatest Crime Wave and the Birth of the FBI, 1933–34. Set during the Great Depression, the film chronicles the final years of the notorious bank robber John Dillinger (Johnny Depp) as he is pursued by Federal Bureau of Investigation agent Melvin Purvis (Christian Bale), and his relationship with Billie Frechette (Marion Cotillard), as well as Purvis' pursuit of Dillinger associates and fellow criminals Homer Van Meter (Stephen Dorff) and Baby Face Nelson (Stephen Graham). Burrough originally intended to make a television miniseries about the Depression-era crime wave in the United States, but he decided to write a book on the subject instead. Mann developed the project and some scenes were filmed on location where certain events depicted in the film occurred, though the film is not entirely historically accurate. After killing Pretty Boy Floyd (Channing Tatum), Federal Bureau of Investigation agent Melvin H. Purvis (Christian Bale) is promoted by J.