Prometheus-101
Joined Mar 2002
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Reviews23
Prometheus-101's rating
I don't know what reviewers are watching sometimes, because this is much much better film than it's given credit for. The premise - a sudden inexplicable apocalyptic event - is handled realistically from the moment it happens, and the fraught road-trip is full of tension and shocking turns Theo James and Forest Whitaker are both excellent, and have some really good moments together, and Kat Graham is great too. There's a lot to enjoy throughout. Don't be dissuaded by its rating, it's worth a look.
What a pleasant surprise this one was. Strong performances, a twisty plot, and some cracking dialogue definitely make this little-known cops versus mob drama a cut above the rest for the period and genre.
Broderick Crawford is excellent as the good cop going undercover, but the supporting cast are all good too. The chemistry and comic timing between Crawford and Richard Kiley in some scenes is really first class and had me laughing out loud.
This is a film that deserves more recognition. Highly recommended.
Broderick Crawford is excellent as the good cop going undercover, but the supporting cast are all good too. The chemistry and comic timing between Crawford and Richard Kiley in some scenes is really first class and had me laughing out loud.
This is a film that deserves more recognition. Highly recommended.
As someone who thinks of themselves as a big film noir fan, it's taken me an embarrassingly long time to get to Gilda. But now that I've finally watched it, I feel I could've stood to put it off for a few more years. I can't hide my disappointment at what is ultimately, in my view, a very strange depiction of a love affair gone wrong and a cop-out ending that doesn't even come close to wiping away the cruel behavior of the hero.
The first hour or so has much to recommend it. The back and forth dialogue and chemistry between the leads are a cut above the usual fare. Hayworth and Ford are both excellent of course and deserving of all the praise they've received over the years. Macready is great too, and there's real depth in the rest of the cast. I particularly enjoyed the turn from Steven Geray as a wise and funny bathroom philosopher.
But things go decidedly south once Macready has (temporarily) disappeared into the sea. Ford's Johnny decides to punish Gilda for perceived past sins (his word, not mine) in relentlessly cruel fashion. He enjoys doing it, too; there's more than a hint of sadism about the way he smiles as Gilda is breaking down in tears at his feet. It's strange, shocking stuff. Johnny's behavior is all the more difficult to understand because the film never explicitly explains what it is Gilda is meant to have done to justify such maltreatment. There are hints at her possible infidelity but this explanation is contradicted in other moments. Ultimately Johnny's motivations are ambiguous, and this destroys any sympathy I had for him. Unfortunately I found this whole section of the film hard to watch. I'm not usually squeamish about cruel behavior depicted onscreen, but I found it really distasteful the way the film presented this cruelty and then tried to imply Johnny was doing all this because he was so in love with Gilda. It didn't work for me at all.
The too too easy ending compounds this strangeness, with seemingly all past sins forgiven. It's cheap and feels completely unearned. Gilda was often recommended to me as a film that was unusual in the film noir genre because the hero and femme fatale really love each other and end up together. Whilst that may be true in the technical sense, it misses everything of substance about what that kind of dynamic implies. This is a toxic love affair in all the worst ways.
Gilda has moments of brilliance that make it essential viewing (eventually) for any film noir fan. But it's very hard to get past Johnny's treatment of Gilda, which in my opinion sours the whole film and makes it much less of an achievement than it could have been.
The first hour or so has much to recommend it. The back and forth dialogue and chemistry between the leads are a cut above the usual fare. Hayworth and Ford are both excellent of course and deserving of all the praise they've received over the years. Macready is great too, and there's real depth in the rest of the cast. I particularly enjoyed the turn from Steven Geray as a wise and funny bathroom philosopher.
But things go decidedly south once Macready has (temporarily) disappeared into the sea. Ford's Johnny decides to punish Gilda for perceived past sins (his word, not mine) in relentlessly cruel fashion. He enjoys doing it, too; there's more than a hint of sadism about the way he smiles as Gilda is breaking down in tears at his feet. It's strange, shocking stuff. Johnny's behavior is all the more difficult to understand because the film never explicitly explains what it is Gilda is meant to have done to justify such maltreatment. There are hints at her possible infidelity but this explanation is contradicted in other moments. Ultimately Johnny's motivations are ambiguous, and this destroys any sympathy I had for him. Unfortunately I found this whole section of the film hard to watch. I'm not usually squeamish about cruel behavior depicted onscreen, but I found it really distasteful the way the film presented this cruelty and then tried to imply Johnny was doing all this because he was so in love with Gilda. It didn't work for me at all.
The too too easy ending compounds this strangeness, with seemingly all past sins forgiven. It's cheap and feels completely unearned. Gilda was often recommended to me as a film that was unusual in the film noir genre because the hero and femme fatale really love each other and end up together. Whilst that may be true in the technical sense, it misses everything of substance about what that kind of dynamic implies. This is a toxic love affair in all the worst ways.
Gilda has moments of brilliance that make it essential viewing (eventually) for any film noir fan. But it's very hard to get past Johnny's treatment of Gilda, which in my opinion sours the whole film and makes it much less of an achievement than it could have been.