Abyss47

"Shoot the Piano Player" was a solid ride.

The film has some clever and witty dialogue (specifically involving women) that injected some humor and fun into an otherwise moody film. The film also stayed immersive throughout thanks to the effective narration putting you firmly into the protagonist's head, so you almost always knew what he was thinking, and it being perfectly timed with the actor's facial expressions makes the viewer feel attached to the character on screen. Acting was strong across the board, and the two gangster antagonists were surprisingly charismatic and fun to watch, especially when interacting with the two leads. The plot isn't the most complex of the genre, but the actors inject just enough life into the proceedings to keep you engaged. The camerawork was stylish and inventive, especially for a film of it's age, and especially during the action scenes, and the atmosphere varied appropriately with each scene, with moments of light banter between a prostitute and the main character, and a more foreboding tone during his interactions with his brother Chico, who is the reason for the gangsters being after them. During the film, you get to learn the origin of the main character Charlie and what happened to his former lover. Overall, not the director's most important work, but perhaps his most accessible and it was cool seeing him try his hand at a gangster film after crafting a coming of age film like "The 400 Blows", as it shows he's able to cross genres with ease.

When I first saw the film, I didn't find it all that engaging, but by the time I got around to seeing the extended cut, I warmed up to it. It's a terrific crime film that accomplishes damn near everything it set out to do, and with an amazing cast of performers along with a stellar lead performance and riveting direction from director Ridley Scott (in top form here), it's one of the essential American crime movies of the past decade, drawing influence upon genre classics - such as Superfly, Goodfellas, and Black Caeser, while effortlessly carving its own identity. If you're not big on crime films, most of your enjoyment from this will be based on how much you like the cast and how familiar you are with their work, but one can't deny how well made and polished the film is.