"Public Enemies" is the greatest sin of a bad movie. This is a big budget production claiming to be a truthful portrait of depression era gangster John Dillinger that flagrantly distorts history and facts and not even being cinematically successful or entertaining.

For those ignorant of Dillinger's story which is virtually all audiences under the age of 40, "Public Enemies" may be fresh, exciting and thrilling and they could care less about presenting the truth. Viewers having read about Dillinger or seen one of the many previous movies recounting his legend could only expect "Public Enemies" to be a decently made rehash at best. It is pathetic that a Roger Corman cheapie called "The Lady in Red" starring Robert Conrad as Dillinger is more entertaining.

"Public Enemies" has zero credibility. The list of factual errors is so extensive as to damage story and character development. Hollywood biographies always take liberties with their subjects, that is a given. So does it matter if the scene of FBI director J. Edgar Hoover being humiliated before a senate hearing is depicted as happening in 1933 when it actually occurred several years later. No it does not.

But it does matter concerning the portrayal of Dillinger pursuer Melvin Purvis. The movie introduces the g-man as he kills Pretty Boy Floyd and Hoover rewarding him by naming him in charge of the Chicago office whose mission is getting Dillinger. Completely false. Floyd succeed Dillinger as public enemy number one and was killed by an Ohio cop. At the time of Dillinger's death, Purvis had been demoted by Hoover. Purvis is depicted as a stoic man of integrity. In reality, Purvis was a glory seeking publicity hound taking false credit for Floyd and that was unacceptable to egomaniac Hoover.

The major gun battle sequence between feds and gangsters results in the deaths of Baby Face Nelson and Homer Van Meter. False. They and Dillinger escaped with Van Meter killed later. The last of the era's public enemy number ones, Nelson years later was "personally captured" by Hoover in an infamous publicity stunt.

Dillinger expresses unease in working with Nelson but it is never mentioned Dillinger had to work with Nelson in order to pay back bribe money used in his famed jailbreak. That is bad screenwriting. More ill conceived writing is a preposterous sequence in which Dillinger strolls into Chicago police headquarters, rides an elevator and walks around Dillinger squad offices like a visitor in a museum. Almost as illogical are the feds lying in wait and capturing girlfriend Billie Frechette and no one spots Dillinger waiting in a car across the street or notices Frechette keeps looking in his direction. No one recognizes the most famous gangster of his time.

"Public Enemies" fails to capture 1930s atmosphere. There is no depression era feeling or sense of that era's style. The modern sounding jazz soundtrack is all wrong. The casting of contemporary jazz singer Diana Krall as a torch singer says it all. There is nothing special concerning cinematography, costume design or art direction. Michael Mann is known a visual action director but all gun battles and bank robberies are stage in lackluster fashion. No energy or excitement.

Critics have hailed Johnny Depp's portrayal as the screen's truest interpretation of Dillinger. They obviously never saw Warren Oates in the superior "Dillinger" in 1973. Depp performs like a little boy playing cops and robbers. Christian Bale has simply deteriorated into a bad actor. He delivers another monotone expressionless performance carbon copying those in "3:10 to Yuma," "The Dark Knight" and "Terminator:Salvation." Academy Award winning French beauty Marion Cotillard does what she can with the thankless role of Billie Frechette.

The movie builds up a great romance between Dillinger and Frechette. They express undying love. This is undermined by a lack of chemistry between Depp and Cotillard. No sparks. Just two actors acting. The script conveniently ignored that Dillinger catted around and Frechette was a golddigger.

Suggestion to Michael Mann: repeatedly watch "Bonnie and Clyde" to understand what is wrong with "Public Enemies." The 1967 classic deliberately eschewed reality in favor of creating a romantic mythic tale. You want to see exciting cinematic perfection with tremendous acting and massive doses of violence, skip "Public Enemies" and watch "Bonnie and Clyde."