u2nspenserfan

That may seem like a negative title, but it's really not. This is a goofy comedy in the same vein as the original Johnny English. The plot is standard, a lot of the gags are predictable, but it's a fun diversion of a movie. I enjoyed it.

To be honest, I didn't expect much going into the film and it was a spur-of-the-moment decision. While not a complex film or plot, the cinematography is often beautiful and the plot is compelling. The subtitles didn't distract a bit for me, because much of the film isn't about dialog, it's about man and nature. When I left the theater, I felt moved by it, which is not something that happens often for me with modern films.

I'm not going to go too much into detail on the plot of the Roaring Twenties - it's pretty standard "gangster rises to the top" fare. The things that made this movie special to me were the performances, two in particular.

The most prominent character in the film is Cagney, a streetwise cabbie who's lost his job - and really his place in the world - following World War I. He gets into the bootlegging business more or less by mistake, but then stays in it and determines to make a success of it. It's typical strong Cagney gangster fare.

The first of the special performances to me was Humphrey Bogart's. This is a younger Bogart, not yet the gangster with a heart seen in High Sierra or the world-weary Bogie seen in Casablanca and many subsequent films. No, this younger Bogart is cunning, but is mostly a fearsome gun-toter seething with contempt for the world. I imagine he didn't have to go far to find inspiration. Warner Brothers didn't consider him a leading man at this time and had him in a string of mostly low-budget films, including an awful Western musical flick called Swing Your Lady the year before. Adding that he was in a reputedly wildly tempestuous marriage with Mayo Methot at the time, he had a deep well to draw from for the contempt and fire this role called for.

The second special performance, and my favorite, is that of Gladys George as Panama. Panama is as tough and smart as any male club owner, a streetwise pitchwoman who doesn't flinch when the bullets fly. On the other hand, she's got a tender heart and a torch that quietly burns for Cagney despite his shortcomings and infatuations with other women. It is one of my favorite female roles of the '30s - it seemed that kind of nuance was generally reserved for the male lead. She has some real powerhouse moments in this film.

So, a 9/10 for me - standard '30s gangster plot buoyed by some special performances.