The first time I saw it. After one of my buddies claimed it was the greatest movie every made. I mean, what could live up to that hype.
Then, over the course of 20+ years I discovered a much wider world of films beyond what CBC and CTV showed late at night to pay the bills. We rented every B&W movie the video store had on tape. TCM came along. I discovered film noir. I drove Interstate 5 through California in the midst of a terrible multi-year drought. I visited Los Angeles. I discovered Arts & Crafts homes.
Then I watched this movie again tonight. And I realized my buddy may have been right.
It has Jack Nicholson before he became a caricature of himself. John Huston showing he was as good an actor as he was a director. And Faye Dunaway, my goodness, was she on fire for a decade or what. When she's trying to explain things to Nicholson in the third act and she's breaking down while doing so, if that doesn't get you, you have no heart.
But you know what else? If you know the ending, the movie is more riveting. Because then you understand why the characters are addressing the things they do, and you're watching the characters act and react, which is where the magic lies.
This is a superlative film. I feel like a dope for taking 20 years to properly appreciate it. I only wish my friend were still alive so I could tell him he was right.
Then, over the course of 20+ years I discovered a much wider world of films beyond what CBC and CTV showed late at night to pay the bills. We rented every B&W movie the video store had on tape. TCM came along. I discovered film noir. I drove Interstate 5 through California in the midst of a terrible multi-year drought. I visited Los Angeles. I discovered Arts & Crafts homes.
Then I watched this movie again tonight. And I realized my buddy may have been right.
It has Jack Nicholson before he became a caricature of himself. John Huston showing he was as good an actor as he was a director. And Faye Dunaway, my goodness, was she on fire for a decade or what. When she's trying to explain things to Nicholson in the third act and she's breaking down while doing so, if that doesn't get you, you have no heart.
But you know what else? If you know the ending, the movie is more riveting. Because then you understand why the characters are addressing the things they do, and you're watching the characters act and react, which is where the magic lies.
This is a superlative film. I feel like a dope for taking 20 years to properly appreciate it. I only wish my friend were still alive so I could tell him he was right.