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In Reply to: "Criminal:" a caper/grifter movie which must posted by tinear on August 13, 2005 at 05:47:01:
I thought "Criminal" was kind of silly and dumb. "Criminal" tried to be a shocker but the writing and acting fell way short. Even John C Reilly , who is (the Karl Malden of the new millennium?) usually a fine actor was miscast. He's just too naturally self-conscious , no matter who he's playing. I certainly couldn't accept him as a cocksure con man. Another problem I had - I always felt like I was objectively "reading" their dialogue instead of actually accepting as a conversation real life people could actually have. Personally I have this problem with David "....What do you think they call it money ?..." Mamet too . Seeing "Criminal" left me yearning to cleanse my palate with "The Sting".
Follow Ups:
C'mon. The Sting is a child's movie, really. Not for once could you believe you were watching real con men, hit people, or cops. Kind of like Butch, it was way too CUTESY.
That was the problem with Newman and Redford when they united. Actually, Cool Hand was too cutesy by far, too. When Newman smiles more than once in a movie, it's the death knell.
Although I enjoy reading your posts Tinear - I disagree with most of your views and your recent post is no different.
C'mon - I thought Charles Durning was an angry vengeful force to contend with . I also found Robert Shaw very menacing . A murderous time bomb waiting to go off. For me ,one of my all-time favorite R.S. roles . Not "cutesy" at all. But it seems you find "massive calves and thighs" more disturbing then good old-fashioned Hollywood bad guys!I've listed some of favorite heist films (off the top my head)...
"The Killing Of a Chinese Bookie"
"Thief"
"The Killing"
"Asphalt Jungle"
"The Hot Rock"
"The French Connection"
"The Taking Of Pelham One - Two - Three"
I agree with your list of heist films, btw.
Your point about Durning and Shaw in The Sting is well-taken, however, it isn't the actors I found lacking but the whimsical direction and that almost childish camaraderie and banter between Newman and Redford that undermined what could have been a more hard-hitting and therefore more effective thriller.
Newman, especially, around this time, began to "grin" way too much and go, well, "cutesy."
Another example was his character in Cool Hand Luke. That egg-eating contest stuff was way over the top Hollywood crap and the Aw-shucks blonde male bimbo guy (Kennedy?) who had earlier punched the shit out of Luke became this cuddly big lapdog. Yuck.
That's another film that couldn't be dark enough because women wouldn't stand it: it had to be cutesy to fit the Hollywood formula.
I like more verisimilitude in my films, at least to consider them excellent films as opposed to good entertainment, which these films all are.
x
I thought about and you make a good point -it's more of a drug smuggle then a heist.
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