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Title: All style and no substance.
Review: With William Faulkner writing the script based on a novel by Raymond Chandler, there is no way that a film can go wrong, especially if you have Howard Hawkes directing and Bogie and Bacall starring. That's the theory. The reality, however, is rather different. The plot is so complicated as to be meaningless. If the people who make the film have no idea who shot whom, what is the audience suppose to make of it. The plot is the hook from which you hang the story. If you can't follow the plot, you can't follow the story. Call me old-fashioned if you want, but I watch films to follow a story. No story: No movie. There is much to commend this film: The dialogue is as sharp as a knife and Bogie and Bacall deliver it with their typical panache. The cinematography is striking. Never has a film looked so noir. However, a story is required, and story is what The Big Sleep lacks.
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