Dick Tracy

"Dick Tracy" is one of our family's favorites -- the actors are great -- the art direction is exceptional -- the music is magic. It's not supposed to be "To Kill A Mockingbird" -- it's a fun experience.

Stephen Sondhemim's songs are stellar: "Back in Business" is energetic, "Sooner or Later" is just right, "What Can You Lose" is haunting -- even tunes like "Live Alone and Like It" add to the story

Got to love the giddily over-the-top performances of Al Pacino, Dustin Hoffman, Glenn Headly, Charlie Korsmo, Mandy Patinkin, James Caan, Dick Van Dyke, supporting villains... The list is far too long. And, yes -- even Madonna and Warren Beatty are awesome. Written with a smile a minute (how many times have we looked at each other and said, "Wait a minute -- I'm having a thought -- it's gone!"?).

However, one of most telling things about in this film is that everyone involved seems to be having a good time -- and that above all adds to the enjoyment for the viewer. So, if you haven't already, why not give "Dick Tracy" a chance -- accept it for what it is -- a Sunday comic strip brought to life -- and in a wonderful way!!

Warren Beatty successfully bringing the comic strip to life , the renowned police detective Dick Tracy who this time tries to solve a case involving Big Boy , the public enemy nº 1 . Beatty wears the caps on all fronts , as he is actor , writer , producer and filmmaker , incarnating the legendary police detective Dick Tracy from Chester Gould's comics and his relentless crusade against crime . However his Tracy is somewhat flat in comparison other comic book heroes . Dick Tracy is the only man tough enough to take on ranting mobster boss Big Boy Caprice (Al Pacino) and his band of menacing mobsters (William Forsythe and Dustin Hoffman who made a small character as Mumbles as a favor for Warren Beatty) . Big Boy and his gang set out a wave of crime that bring them face to face with dapper Tracy . Dedicated to his work but at the same time devoted to his loyal sweetheart (Glenne Headly ), Tracy find himself torn between love and duty . Tracy becomes even more difficult when he gets saddled with an engaging orphan (Charlie Korsmo) . The comic strip detective finds his life vastly complicated when a singing siren named Mahoney (a seductive Madonna) makes advances towards him while he is attempting to fight Big Boy Caprice's united mob . Later on , Tracy tries to find his kidnapped girlfriend while Big Boy is on the loose .

This comic strip spring to life similarly the original drawings and being faithfully recreated , though sometimes looks like an extended stage musical . The bad guys all have overblown features and they and the cops , journalists all wear different coloured coats to correspond to the drawings in the original comic strips created by Chester Gould . The timeless and imaginative settings capture the essence rather than reality of the city . There's so much music in the movie mostly from Mandy Patinkin and especially Madonna as the singer Breathless Mahoney doing her best screen acting to date . Good though excessive performances from Al Pacino who is perfectly cast as the gangster Big Boy looking like a caricaturist impression of a cartoon and splendid Dustin Hoffman as his hoodlum named Mumbles . The make-up used for all of the villains was based directly on how they were drawn by Chester Gould in the original comic strip , the only exception was Big Boy Caprice, whose make-up was designed by Al Pacino himself. People expecting Gothic scenarios and spectacular action of Batman may be disappointed , but moviegoers will be thrilled . Colorful and stylistically superior cinematography by the Italian Vittorio Storaro , shot in a few colors , the main colors in the film are only six that the original comic strip appeared in: red, blue, yellow, green, orange, purple, plus black and white . Jolly and amusing musical score by Danny Elffman .

Other films about this classic comic book character are the followings : ¨Dick Tracy¨ (1947) 15 chapters starred by Ralph Byrd and directed by John English and Ray Taylor ; ¨Dick Tracy Detective¨ (1945) the first feature movie directed by William Berke with Morgan Conway and Jane Greer ; ¨Tracy returns¨ 15 chapter serial directed by William Witney with Ralph Byrd ; ¨Tracy meets gruesome ¨(1947) with Ralph Byrd and Boris Karloff ; ¨Tracy vs Crime Inc¨; ¨Tracy vs Cueball¨(1946) by Gordon Douglas with Morgan Conway and Anne Jeffreys ; ¨Tracy's dilemma¨ by John Rawlins with Ralph Byrd and Jack Lambert , among others .

Labor of love for star and director Warren Beatty, Dick Tracy was a film I hated when it first came out. I was a kid and stupid, only caring about what's cool. What was cool then (and sadly still is) was "dark and gritty" heroes like Batman. Dick Tracy was considered corny and lame. When I first watched it I thought it was a kids' movie and I was at that age where anything like that I hated. Happily, I feel much differently about the film now that I'm older.

Dick Tracy is a live-action cartoon, with eye-popping visuals decked out in bright primary colors. It's a beautiful film to behold. Everyone involved in the stylized look of this movie should be proud. The sets, the lighting, the matte paintings, the makeup and effects are all superior to any CGI crap we get today. Real work and passion went into this and it shows.

The cast is great. Beatty is criticized by many for not being the right fit for Tracy or for being too old. While he's not a perfect representation of the character, I feel he does quite well and his age never occurred to me while watching it. Madonna gives easily her best performance in this movie. That's meant slightly as a slam I guess, as most of her other work is very weak. But it's also meant as a compliment. Here she plays to her strengths: sex appeal and "oomph." Her double entendres and skin-tight dresses make Breathless Mahoney a very memorable character. There's also some fine support from Glenne Headley and Charlie Korsmo. And who can forget the villains! Chester Gould's distinctive-looking villains come to life thanks to superb makeup, played in many cases by uncredited stars. The leader of the bunch is Big Boy Caprice, played by the wonderfully over-the-top Al Pacino. Pacino was having a lot of fun with the role and it shows.

My only real complaint lies in the music. Not the Stephen Sondheim songs -- they're great. But the Danny Elfman musical score is way too similar to the one he did for Batman the year before. It's very lazy and doesn't seem to fit the action of the film. Forget what you've read from naysayers about this movie and judge it for yourself. It's a fun movie with exceptional visuals and colorful ambiance.

This is a marvelous film. Warren Beatty managed to film it just like a comic book MIGHT be brought to film with humourously grotesque and bizarre characters, beautiful colours, and a plot that really only could have come from a comic book. The buildings, set design, make-up, and props are like nothing I have ever seen in film before. Now, never having read the original strip leaves me out as far as making probably very insightful comparisons with this film and the original source. That being said, I think that Beatty, although drastically changing some of the villains in the film to fit smaller roles, tried to keep the spirit of the film inside the comic strip. Does that make sense? Probably not. Anyway, Dick Tracy offers a lot. It is a visual feast with a decent story and some prime time stars doing some things you may not expect from them. Beatty is very good as the lawmen, but much of the supporting cast steals many scenes from him. Al Pacino as Big Boy Caprice is sensational as an over-the-top thug out to get every criminal under his control, while he intermittenly quotes folks like Nietchze, Jefferson, and other historical figures. Dustin Hoffman as Mumbles is wonderful - if you can finally figure out that it is him(notice in the scene where a stenographer is taking down what he says((That is Oscar winner Kathy Bates!))). James Caan has a brief yet good scene with Pacino Godfather style and Beatty gives Michael J. Pollard and Estelle Parsons cameos as well(both co-starring with him in Bonnie and Clyde). Then there is Madonna. She tries her best to live up to her name of Breathless and does a VERY credible job at it. And then of course there is the music of Stephen Sondheim, an Oscar winner for this film. It is very good and in some ways more memorable than much of what goes on in the film. Perhaps a song here or there might have been cut, but for the most part the music greatly added to the overall effects created in the film. Is Dick Tracy great? No, but it is a whole lot better than it is generally given credit for. In some ways its innovation must be reviewed again. I think that for its type of film it is one of the best.

This is amazing-looking movie with the whole thing done in just six or seven colors. When it came out over 15 years ago, it stunned audiences with its color scheme, being so different from anything else that had ever been put on film. Those colors, for me at least, make this an absolutely fascinating film to watch. There are literally thousands of scenes I wish could freeze and somehow convert them to a painting to study for their artwork.

The characters and the story don't match up to the greatness of the photography, but they are all over-the-top, especially the villains. The famous actors who played them here must have a had a lot of fun on the set playing "Flatop," "Pruneface," "Lips," "Mumbles," etc.

Meanwhile, Warren Beatty and Gleanne Hedley are good as Dick Tracey and girlfriend Tess Truehart, and she's as sweet and soft as her name. Another good addition is Charlie Korsmo as the delinquent young boy Dick and Tess take under their wing. The colorful other characters are played by Al Pacino, Dustin Hoffman, William Forysthe, Paul Sorvino, Mandy Patinkin, Madona and other names you know but are too numerous to list here. Check the full credits on the main page and you'll amazed.

The only negatives I found were Pacino's voice which grates on you after awhile, Madonna's off-key singing voice and the fact that the film would have been better trimmed about 10 minutes. Those "faults" are all minor because overall, this is a fun movie....a cartoon strip coming to life in an incredibly-colorful fashion.....like nothing you have ever seen.