True Grit (Henry Hathaway)

The 'Duke' as Rooster Cogburn.

Film Review Archive (date seen: November 1, 2010)

The first thing that inspired me to see this film was John Wayne's Oscar-winning performance that supposedly toppled both Dustin Hoffman and Jon Voight's in "Midnight Cowboy". Then the second was the fact that the Coens remade the film with an all-star cast.

It is indeed a great film as a whole, and though I thought there's no way that "The Duke" has won an Oscar for the role, his oozing legendary persona is just too immense to neglect, and the genre that this film belongs and its foundations whom he helped to build is just too colorful to pass.

"True Grit", for me, is one of the quintessential films to portray the pure "western wonder" before the genre's choice to delve into much more realistic territories. It contains a dark and conflicted theme of 'revenge' and turned it into a pleasurable piece of high adventure and a delightful cinematic display of human bond. Granted, this is John Wayne's well-known "swan song" to both the western genre and his illustrious film career as a whole, but I'll also remember this film as an early project for Robert Duvall and Dennis Hopper, who both had great careers afterwards.

"The strangest trio to ever track a killer", the tagline used to say, and yes, I agree, gun-toting and experience-wise, it's perfectly imperfectly balanced, but as a circle of people brought into camaraderie by the path of a killer, it's a superlative chemistry to beat.

FINAL RATING

White Heat (Raoul Walsh)

'Made it Ma. Top of the storage tank!'

Film Review Archive (date seen: October 4, 2010)

One of the cornerstones of the "crime" genre, featuring arguably its most recognizable face: That of James Cagney as Cody Jarrett, a criminal trying to shoot and rob his way from the vile bottom into the top of the world. But as one would watch the film, Jarret is indeed its heart (or the absence thereof) and soul, but never is the straightforward focus of the film.

"White Heat" gets its main tension and suspense from Vic Pardo's (played by Edmond O'Brien) undercover mission to evade Jarrett's circle. But it was indeed a great treatment for the film as it has able to magnify Jarrett's psychosis by way of viewing him and his actions through the eyes of an outsider and as a result, it has heightened the effect of alienation and disgust to Jarrett's actions even more. Another great part of the film is its detailed portrayal of a police procedural at the time, with a primitive positioning system as a particular highlight.

"White Heat" is an unforgettable thematic journey into the "crime does not pay" territory of the gangster genre, and with it heading into an explosive climax that may very well be the maxim's definitive companion image.

FINAL RATING