fiction. the gumshoe character driven, where if you’re not sure what to do, have a dame or a man turn up with a gun in their hands. or the actual mystery. the train leaves two hours after the first one and has less stops could the killer have jumped carriages at MacGuffin vile. and that’s when I tend to tune out.
The killers manage to avoid being too basic by cutting up the story allowing me to enjoy the form and the world while not feeling stupid for not watching the clock. It’s not the story of the characters you see. It still baffles me that we follow an insurance agent and his own tenacity in the thing, but that’s offset by his quick to establish bromance with old copper and the swedes best friend on the other side of the fence. the film pans a whole underbelly of the city. from dive bars to fancy places. the big bets in boxing and the muscles and how they make money when it fails. but Lancaster and Gardner are fantastic.
how a man can convey so much introspection is Lancasters gift. it would be easy to say he is stereotypical but at this point I feel we have to acknowledge he didn’t break the Mold as was the man the Mold was cast from. granite and compassionate. light at times and crying at others. Gardner fear and strength intertwine throughout.
but it is a mystery and a story beyond the big heist, the double cross, the secrets and the triples. by the moment I was carried more to see justice for a criminal I cared about, Ven thought he died in the first 20 minutes.
it’s a hard film to find. its preserved it’s been restored and it was pretty packed cinema for a film pushing 80. I think while I have been to many blockbusters early with a dozen folk in the screen on opening weekend. this pulls on a Sunday afternoon. with craft. and skill. Maybe the jolt in the arm. it won’t change cinema. but its more releases like this, that may save cinemas into the 2030
check it out when you can
The Irish Indian Times. 
Leave a comment