Post by Casablanca on Jul 16, 2008 13:49:05 GMT -5
* 1/2 out of ****
This film contains some of the most cheesy, hard boiled, gangster noir duologue I have ever heard. And for a second or two...it works! Only for a second. The film suffers from its pace, which is commonly redundant with its scenes, until the second half, which picks itself back up to become a decent story, until the very end where a policeman finds his partner's body and delivers the most brutal and phony beating in recent memory to the criminal who killed him. This includes, of course, pistol whipping, urinating on, and a serious upper-cut. This is a film which takes glory in its detestability, love for its offenses and adores its own vileness. I suppose it works minorly on a scale of entertainment, but I saw myself glancing at the scroll bar once too often, checking my progress and awaiting the end. None of the characters are likable, but this also adds to the films few good points. They do manage to make the "evil characters" dis-likable. We feel the protagonist's hatred for these characters and while the final beating is right out of a 70's cop show, it does feel deserved.
The dialouge, like stated above, is meant for those who like their meat burnt, one could say. It is tough, mean, slutty, hip, and all done so that it feels more like a day sitting in the center of Detroit then it does reading a film. Realistic, yeah it is. But maybe a bit of far-fetched suspense could have done the film some justice. This film needs justice, the twisted cops sure aren't delivering any!
My conclusion- only see it if you have a calling for gangster films. If not, don't.
This film contains some of the most cheesy, hard boiled, gangster noir duologue I have ever heard. And for a second or two...it works! Only for a second. The film suffers from its pace, which is commonly redundant with its scenes, until the second half, which picks itself back up to become a decent story, until the very end where a policeman finds his partner's body and delivers the most brutal and phony beating in recent memory to the criminal who killed him. This includes, of course, pistol whipping, urinating on, and a serious upper-cut. This is a film which takes glory in its detestability, love for its offenses and adores its own vileness. I suppose it works minorly on a scale of entertainment, but I saw myself glancing at the scroll bar once too often, checking my progress and awaiting the end. None of the characters are likable, but this also adds to the films few good points. They do manage to make the "evil characters" dis-likable. We feel the protagonist's hatred for these characters and while the final beating is right out of a 70's cop show, it does feel deserved.
The dialouge, like stated above, is meant for those who like their meat burnt, one could say. It is tough, mean, slutty, hip, and all done so that it feels more like a day sitting in the center of Detroit then it does reading a film. Realistic, yeah it is. But maybe a bit of far-fetched suspense could have done the film some justice. This film needs justice, the twisted cops sure aren't delivering any!
My conclusion- only see it if you have a calling for gangster films. If not, don't.
