The cold didn't kill me, so we've got the return of the marathon! (Honestly, I've been watching marathon movies all along so I've got 17 reviews to catch up on, and the Man With No Name Trilogy waiting for me to watch. So much work, so little time!)
The Big SleepI frankly have avoided this film for years. It’s not that I don’t like Bogie—he’s good for the occasional anti-hero. But I really didn’t care for The Maltese Falcon and that film and this were strongly connected in my mind. They were both Bogie noir based on classic detective novels of the 30s. So if I disliked the one, I should dislike the other, right?
Not at all. The big difference for me comes in the main characters: Sam Spade v. Philip Marlowe. Frankly, Sam Spade has few redeeming qualities, and I strongly disliked him. It must be to Bogie’s credit that just as much as I disliked his Sam Spade, I really enjoyed his Philip Marlowe. Marlowe was funny, smart, laughs easily and is much more enjoyable to spend time with. And he doesn’t consider violence the first resort, especially in dealing with women. I appreciate that.
Technical—5/5--In all probability, another aspect I really appreciated about The Big Sleep over MF is the direction in general. Howard Hawks is one of my favorite directors and I love his dialogue-filled, constantly moving films. This isn’t as frantic as some of his films, but it certainly has his touch. Having William Faulkner as a writer for this film couldn’t hurt, either. The script is smart and the dialogue rich. And, most of all, the film was humorous throughout, which I didn’t expect, although I should have with Hawks at the helm.
Interest—4/5—Although most of the other characters aren’t as interesting as Marlowe, of course Bacall is fantastic and the plot is interesting. I can’t say that I was as interested in the mystery itself, but it was fun getting there.
Tension—4/5—There are some real tense moments in there, especially in a couple of the shootouts and in the involvement of Bacall’s sister.
Characters—3/5—It’s difficult to pinpoint my feeling of the characters of this film. Frankly, few of them were believable. They were all movie stereotypes (and I recognize that this film helped to create some of these stereotypes) except for Marlowe, who wasn’t really the hard-boiled detective, or perhaps he was but didn’t always act like it.
Emotional—3/5— Because I didn’t buy most of the characters, their dilemmas weren’t very compelling for me. Certainly I was tense when someone got shot, but overall it didn’t matter.
Theme—2/5—I didn’t really catch much of a theme here.
Ethics—3/5—I don’t think the movie is encouraging us to think about ethics, other than the illegality of shooting people for financial reasons. There is a moment in the DA’s office where Marlowe’s style of solving a crime is held against a police procedure. The main thing seems to be that Marlowe’s style, although he lies, leaves dead bodies around, spends questionable time with women and sets people up to be shot, but he gets the job done (and he has friends in high places). That seems to be good enough for the DA, so it should be good enough for us? Hmmmm.
The real ethical question: Should Bacall be smoking? In public?Personal—3/5—I related to Marlowe’s easygoing style, although it is not my own, and I did relate to his use of humor to ease tensions.
A good movie, really enjoyable. One I will probably watch again. But it wasn’t so enjoyable that I’d put it in my top 100.
1. Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind
2. In America
3. Rear Window
4. Amelie
5. The Red Shoes
6. Edward Scissorhands
7. Princess Mononoke
8. The Dark Knight
9. Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back
10. Tideland
11. Red Beard
12. The Brothers Bloom
13. I [Heart] Huckabees
14. I’m Not There
15. Toy Story 2
16. Close Encounters of the Third Kind
17. The Man Without A Past
18. Dog Day Afternoon
19. Brick
20. District 9
21. Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope
22. Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl
23. Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... and Spring
24. 50 First Dates
25. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
26. Rachel Getting Married
27. The Godfather
28. The Son (2003)
29. Raising Arizona
30. How To Train A Dragon
31. Shaun of the Dead
32. Do The Right Thing
33. Adaptation
34. Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs
35. Scizopolis
36. Buckaroo Bonzai Across the Eighth Dimension
37. Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai
38. *ucking Amal/Show Me Love
39.
The Big Sleep40. Three Kings
41. Y Tu Mama Tambien
42. The White Ribbon
43. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
44. The Science of Sleep
45. Grizzly Man
46. Who Framed Roger Rabbit?
47. Scarecrow
48. Fitzcaraldo
49. Zelig
50. Harold and Maude
51. Repulsion
52. Mister Roberts