The Wild Bunch
This film has quite a bit of narrative identity crisis. I couldn't quote tell if I was supposed to feel empathy for the "Wild Bunch" for having their own 'moral code' or hate William Holden's character for basically selling out his partner. I also wasn't quite sure why I was supposed to feel bad for Robert Ryan's character for getting caught and sent to jail...for crimes he actually had committed. Lots of shoot outs with slightly dubious physics and extended staged scenes of people laughing together. Was surprised to realize that Pike was played by William Holden--almost didn't recognize him. Definitely a lot worse than his other two entries on the list, The Network and Bridge on the River Kwai.Labels: bridge on the river kwai, robert ryan, the network, the wild bunch, two stars, william holden
So I now finally get the joke from Family Guy, "...in other news, Eve Marie is no Saint". Cary Grant is bumbling and charming (less bumbling than in Bringing up Baby and less charming than A Philadelphia Story), Eve Marie Saint seems a bit old for a 26 year old double agent, but she does play it with a nice icyness that is very January Jones' Betty Draper-esque. I was a bit annoying by how there was so little redeemable about her character, but Hitchcock wasn't exactly known for his progressive views on women. One of my more favorite Hitchcock films, slightly behind Rope. Does make one want to take a journey on train in first class.
I feel like I am the last person to have watched it. I understand when it came out it was praised for being very 'life-like' and gory--refer to the opening scene where they storm the beaches of Normandy during D-Day, but having already seen Band of Brothers and The Pacific I was slightly underwhelmed. The plot line was also ever so tenuous and tried to cast all the major players as heroic in their own way, whereas The Pacific in particular (and even films like Platoon) just showed how pointless and futile war is, with lives being lost for no real gain. Great action shots and cuts, but with a Spielberg movie, what else would one expect. Tom Hanks was blah, Matt Damon was fresh faced and slightly less blah.