Thursday, April 2, 2009

The Maltese Falcon

Day 74 - 3/15/09 - Movie #71

THE PLOT: A private detective takes on a case that involves him with three eccentric criminals, a gorgeous liar, and their quest for a priceless statuette.

AFTER: I hate to belittle a classic, but I'm not seeing why this movie is so great - it's a lot of talking and negotiating, and the action always happens off-screen. And Sam Spade doesn't go out to find the Falcon, someone brings it to his office! Where's the action? Am I missing something? This was boring as dirt! I guess maybe storytelling was different in the 1940's? Compare this to an Indiana Jones film, which is wall-to-wall action - Bogie just seems to want to talk Lorre and Greenstreet to death... I know this movie kicked off the whole detective/noir genre, but it's hardly the best example of what the genre can accomplish. And the portrayal of women - they're all either duplicitous bombshells, or hysterical widows...

RATING: 3 out of 10 cigarettes

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