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The casting for this film was pretty weird. French actor Alain Delon plays an Italian and Jack Palance(!) plays his brother! The two look and sound nothing like brothers and I suppose they chose Delon since apparently Sidney Poitier was not available!! Delon is an ex-con who is married to lovely but often hysterical Ann-Margaret. They have a young daughter but are struggling economically--partly because it's hard for a hot-headed idiot like Delon to keep a job. In fact, there are just way too many scenes where he barks and gesticulates and broods so much you'd swear he's off his meds. Because he acts like a moody jerk through much of the film it's hardly possible to care about him--and this is a major problem with the film. Most caper films, to a degree, you like the crooks and even want to see them get away with the crime---such as in good caper films like "Rififi" or "Bob le Flambeur". With this film, however, you just want it to end. There's more to the plot and there's a parole officer played by Van Heflin, but frankly...who cares?! In addition to Delon's acting, while Ann-Margaret is also a decent actress, you might not think so seeing this film. In particular, pay attention to her at about the 53 and 86 minute marks as she goes off on a bizarre tirade that just seems way overdone. Where was the director? Did they actually WANT this sort of terrible performance?! And, for that matter, who wrote this dialog?! After all, even a film novice might find that scene extremely silly.
So what did I like about this film? Well, not much, since I'd seen so many better and less shrill caper films. However, the blond psycho in the gang was a pretty cool character and Palance wasn't bad at all--and was good as a heavy throughout the 50s and 60s. These, however, are not enough to make the movie worth seeing.
score 3/10
MartinHafer 27 April 2010
Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw2241931/ |
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6-3-2021 18:06:15