Dick Tracy

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.

If Dick Tracy was in black and white, the pope wouldn't be religious. Giving a new sense to the concept of color in a movie, we are offered an unique experience throughout a comic-strip world, and it's one of the few movies which succeeded in doing so, thanks to a serious script, good direction, great performances (Al Pacino is astonishing) and most importantly a powerful mix of cinematography, art direction and costume design. Using only primary colors, the experience is quite different from anything we have seen before. And there is also a quite successful hommage to all the gangster-movie genre, pratically extinct from modern cinema. Overall, I see this movie as a fresh attempt and a touch of originality to a cinema which relies more and more on the old and already-seen formulas. 7 out of 10.

"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!!

An all-star cast, vivid colors that could give you a headache and Madonna's sizzling performance made many think that "Dick Tracy" is much better than it actually is. It is one of those typical quantity over quality projects that uses smoke and mirrors to make the audience think that it is something unique and intriguing. However, the film is little more than a comic strip that jumps up at you ala the "Superman" or "Batman" group of films. Warren Beatty's performance and in-your-face direction are not totally successful. The seemingly endless name of cast members also becomes dizzying. Al Pacino (Oscar-nominated) steals every scene and pulls a Jack Nicholson from "Batman" out of his hat. "Dick Tracy" is a good film, but it is far from being a masterpiece. 4 stars out of 5.

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.