mtulig

You could say that the photography, costumes, set design, musical score and a dozen other aspects of the movie were decent-to-good. No matter. The actors and director must have known that the film would be horrible. Very little of what was depicted could ever happen in real life. But this wasn't sci-fi. This was supposed to be a somewhat realistic tale of a fictional, deep plot to cause death and destruction to impact public policy. Equally bad was the dialog between the the good guys and bad guys. They weren't buddies swapping life stories. Even the professional discussions and small talk among law enforcement personnel was amateurish. There's no moral to this story.

Just living our natural lives, basically being born, we're forever indebted to unseen, all-powerful forces, can't run away to escape our fate and must spend our entire lives repaying our debt. When we realize that, we stop running and return to our chores, knowing that someday our lives will be taken from us.

Others mentioned Kafka. I'd add Camus.

I first saw this maybe 40 years ago. Many Chicago street scenes were familiar.

A lot to like: character studies, a realistic glimpse into a different age and mileau, romance, comedy, tragedy, maturity through age and suffering. But not quite in the class of the great or beloved moves, be they exhilarating or sobering.