1948
Directed by Abraham Polonsky
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All right, so I was waiting forever for this film since it had a long wait on Netflix. Then I realized the full movie was available on YouTube for free. I love feeling smart.
Anyway, this movie was a breath of fresh air. As much as I love film noir, I was getting a bit sick of the formula. However, as the book states, this movie falls uncomfortably into the genre of film noir. It is hard to describe the differences between this film and regular film noir; it is so subtle.
So the basic plot of this movie is that an rather crooked lawyer and his hot brother get involved in a racket. First of all, the love story is much more modern and realistic than something like "sometimes murder smells like honeysuckle". The dialogue also feels a lot more realistic; there is no threats of "swift punches in the nose."
Overall, it was fun. Some interesting questions about what ethics really are were raised. Worth a place in this list.
RATING: ****-
Interesting Facts:
Leo was probably just jealous because Joe got all the looks. That's a shame.
One of Martin Scorsese's favorite films.
