The Maltese Falcon (1941)

I have to admit that I found this film to be totally boring. Only Humphrey Bogart stopped me from falling asleep. It started off promisingly and I was thought that this was going to be quite an interesting little film but after about 15 I found the film quite boring and totally dull, lacking any tension or anything in the way of charisma. None of the characters were believeable and the whole idea was totally stupid which is a shame because Bogart is regarded as one of the most popular actors of his generation.

This is the only Bogart film I have ever seen but whilst I liked Bogart's performance, the film was utter tripe and I was relieved when it was over. I wouldnt say its the worst film that I have ever seen but its only because of Bogart. Remove him from the film and its on par with the 1969 True Grit.

Magnum Force (1973)

The second Dirty Harry film is far better than the first film. I think that the story is far better and the whole feel of the film was better than in DH. The film is about a group of rookies who seem to be taking the law into their own hands. At first I thought that it was just one guy and that was David Soul but when it turned out that there was more of them then it made the idea of rogue rookies even better. The introduction of Hal Holbrook was brilliant.

The final scene on the abandoned ship was funny and exciting in equal measure. I couldnt believe that Harry could walk/run/stagger onto the boat with no one noticing or saying anything but as the story moved along and the film got even better. Generally the whole film worked a lot better than DH. I thought that Clint Eastwood got a better handle of the character than in the first one and he was surrounded by very good actors that helped make some of the weaker moments go by very quickly.

Dirty Harry (1971)

Dirty Harry is one of those films that I have heard good things about and I was interested because it had Clint Eastwood in it. It's the first of I think four films and hopefully the rest will be better because this film whilst had its moments wasnt quite the classic that I thought it would be. I honestly dont know why this was but there were things such as Eastwood and some cool 1970's music but the rest didnt really work and at the end of the film I felt slightly disappointed with it because it didnt have the killer punch at the end that I thought it should have had. The film is regarded as setting the template for future police films which is clear but it still remains that it doesn’t quite work despite having someone who is apparently going on a one man killing spree. Some scenes were quite good but ultimately it didnt gel very well.

There is something that is quite fun about watching someone who doesnt act like a normal cop but it has to be due to the person playing the role and Clint Eastwood is one of those people who can get away with it because he has such as strong body of work where he is someone who you dont mess with. Eastwood is clearly the main selling point of this movie but there are certain films where you can get a superb performance in a poor film and I think that Dirty Harry is certainly one of those films.

Rating – 7/10

True Grit (2010)

I wasn’t wild about the original version and I was hoping that this remake would satisfy the disappointment that I felt when I watched the John Wayne version. I have to say that I think that this remake is 110% BETTER than the 1969 version. Firstly Hailee Steinfeld is brilliant and considering its her first role is astonishing. I also thought that the story was better told than the 1969 version as the Coen Brothers have done wonders with this story and there are classic Coen things in it such as characters that make brief appearances yet are instantly funny and every scene is truly wonderful. Like No Country for Old Men, there are some visually stunning scenes and everyone in the film deserves to be there.

Jeff Bridges is better than John Wayne but I just couldn’t understand him half the time and had to stick the subtitles on. It was only then that I could make sense of what he was saying. He was very good though. Matt Damon and Josh Brolin are also very good and they are also better than their originals. However it is Hailee who steals the film and is far more beleiveable in the role than Kim Darby.

This is possibly in my top three of films of most recent films and it just falls short of No Country which isn’t a bad thing. The Coen Brothers are great film makers and now what it takes to make a great film.