Post by Chicago Jake on Feb 10, 2013 0:51:11 GMT -6
Why have I never seen this awesome movie before?
I remember it coming out in the theaters, and thinking I should go and see it. But it pretty much came and went before I could get around to a viewing. Well, I finally saw it on Cable TV this week. Man, it was awesome.
Anyone who decries the lack of great film noir flicks these days, a la Bogie, Cagney, Robert Mitchum, and the like, needs to see this film. It is every bit as good as the best of the genre.
Directed by Brian Helgeland (LA Confidential, A Knight's Tale, Mystic River), and starring Mel Gibson, Gregg Henry, Maria Bello, William Devane, Lucy Liu, Kris Kristofferson, David Paymer, John Glover, James Coburn, and others too numerous to mention, it is the fascinating tale of an anti-hero criminal (Mel Gibson) out to recover his fair share of the ill-gotten gains that he stole fair and square along with his conniving ex-partner, Gregg Henry (always a scumbag).
The first thing you notice about this movie is the color pallet: it isn't in black and white, exactly, but it might as well have been. It is all grays and blues, with the very occasional splash of red. Very atmospheric.
The second thing you notice is the extremely cynical tone, often delivered in voice-over. Bogey would have been proud.
And the third thing you notice is how you can't help but root for the good bad guy to beat the bad bad guys. Film noir at it's best!
I understand that there is a director's cut that totally ch-ch-changes who lives and who dies. I'll have to see if I can dig it up. Not that it matters. This is the kind of movie that isn't really plot-oriented. It is atmosphere oriented, and all about the world that sucks you in. Who ends up winning and losing isn't really the point; it's how you feel about your short visit to this alternate, and awesome, reality.
I remember it coming out in the theaters, and thinking I should go and see it. But it pretty much came and went before I could get around to a viewing. Well, I finally saw it on Cable TV this week. Man, it was awesome.
Anyone who decries the lack of great film noir flicks these days, a la Bogie, Cagney, Robert Mitchum, and the like, needs to see this film. It is every bit as good as the best of the genre.
Directed by Brian Helgeland (LA Confidential, A Knight's Tale, Mystic River), and starring Mel Gibson, Gregg Henry, Maria Bello, William Devane, Lucy Liu, Kris Kristofferson, David Paymer, John Glover, James Coburn, and others too numerous to mention, it is the fascinating tale of an anti-hero criminal (Mel Gibson) out to recover his fair share of the ill-gotten gains that he stole fair and square along with his conniving ex-partner, Gregg Henry (always a scumbag).
The first thing you notice about this movie is the color pallet: it isn't in black and white, exactly, but it might as well have been. It is all grays and blues, with the very occasional splash of red. Very atmospheric.
The second thing you notice is the extremely cynical tone, often delivered in voice-over. Bogey would have been proud.
And the third thing you notice is how you can't help but root for the good bad guy to beat the bad bad guys. Film noir at it's best!
I understand that there is a director's cut that totally ch-ch-changes who lives and who dies. I'll have to see if I can dig it up. Not that it matters. This is the kind of movie that isn't really plot-oriented. It is atmosphere oriented, and all about the world that sucks you in. Who ends up winning and losing isn't really the point; it's how you feel about your short visit to this alternate, and awesome, reality.