1973 movieRating: 16/20
Plot: Eddie's a small-time gunrunner, facing a second chunk of jail time. He's looking for a way out and even considers ratting out his colleagues to avoid the slammer. His friends might not like that very much.
This movie's anti-flash. No pomp, no circumstance. Just the hopeless efforts of a world-weary guy trying to dig himself out of a hole with nothing but a religious pamphlet and a fake fingernail. It's gritty and realistic, just like 70's crime movies should be, and the acting, especially Mitchum as Eddie and Peter Boyle as Raymond's dad, is perfectly subdued. Eddie is such a loser, a tragic loser, but you feel for the guy as his life slowly and sadly unravels. This is downbeat, with not enough happening to seem like a real movie at times, but that somehow adds to the despair. The narrative's deliberate, but it lets you feel the characters a bit more and focus on some of the details of the gun trade, something I've thought about getting involved in if this teaching gig doesn't work out. This is the type of film you get to roll around in and get a little dirty.
This is a very solid film with an ending that was totally unexpected. As always, Mitchum is great. A 15
ReplyDeleteYou mean the ending as in what happens to Eddie?
ReplyDeleteExactly.
ReplyDeleteI didn't think the ending was unexpected at all. From the very beginning, you know the guy's not going to make it. I guess the how is a little surprising.
ReplyDeleteExactly.
ReplyDeleteWait, I can't use that twice in a row. I can't think of another movie where the lead is killed so quietly and matter-of-factly. It was so weird that, for five minutes after I was thinking he was still somehow alive. It almost made the point more powerful.
Good point. It is more of a whimper than a bang. He was killed with a shrug, almost like the director was saying, "No big deal. He wasn't all that important," even though his name is in the title. And the fact that there's a scene AFTER his killing is very telling as well.
ReplyDelete