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Title: Over-rated. Over-the-top. Cliched.
Review: I can't believe anyone would rate this movie highly. The plot is predictable from the start. The writing is cliched to the max. At times I found myself saying, "they'd never do that, or say that." Fritz Lang's overuse of melodrama was irritating. The performances by the actors were uneven.In my mind, the Maltese Falcon, The Third Man, and Touch of Evil are the standards against which any other noir film should be measured. More recently Memento and Croupier are symbols of great film making in this genre. The story here falls way short of those benchmarks. (I'll spare you a rehash. Read the other reviews.) Glen Ford and Lee Marvin offer some good moments, but when they are bad, they stink the joint out. Same with the rest of the cast.Unless you enjoy bad films because they are really bad, don't waste your money. Go buy the Touch of Evil, or the others I mentioned, if you want noir that grabs you and pulls you in.
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