Music adds to the many appealing qualities of Public Enemies, which features Diana Krall as a club singer and has her rendition of Bye, Bye Blackbird as a central motif running through the film. Tracks by Billie Holiday, Otis Taylor and Blind Willie Johnson feed into the vein of sorrow and hardship that was Depression-era America, and provide the period atmosphere even more effectively than the visuals.
Given that Public Enemies is supposed to tell the story of Dillinger, it would be nice to have left the theater with a little more knowledge about the progress of his life or the world in which he lived. Mann has given us a gorgeous collage, and though he has included many of the most significant events of Dillinger’s story, he seems to be telling anyone who asks to look up the facts elsewhere.
Correction:
The running time for Public Enemies was originally listed as 104 minutes. It is in fact 140 minutes. The Taipei Times regrets the error.
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