The Next film on our list is the 1973 favorite The Sting. This was number 98 on the IMDB top 250 list that I am going through.
Plot: 10/10
This was one of the most creative stories and plots I have ever seen. The story circles around two young street con artists that team up to make the score of a lifetime from a rich banker. This film won the Academy award for best writing, story, and screenplay. It was a nonstop ride that kept my interest 100 percent throughout. There is never a dull moment in this film. The story maintains its direction and never once strays away. This film had it all, with humor, suspense, mystery, loss, and success. It is very rare that a film can accomplish so much, but on top of all this, it incorporated my favorite aspect of cinema with an OUTSTANDING surprise ending. Everyone should know by now how I love to be shocked in movies, I still resent a friend of mine for ruining the ending for the Sixth Sense. Many of my all time favorites, including The Usual Suspects, Shawshank Redemption, The Village, In the Heat of The Night, Seven, The Prestige, and Saw all have those moments at the end where I literally sat on my couch with my jaw dropped open for a good 10-15 seconds after the final credits had rolled. In complete and utter shock, theses films seem to lead your mind one way and at the last second, completely flip you around, this film is certainly no exception, and I loved every minute of it.
Acting: 8/10
This was one of the most creative stories and plots I have ever seen. The story circles around two young street con artists that team up to make the score of a lifetime from a rich banker. This film won the Academy award for best writing, story, and screenplay. It was a nonstop ride that kept my interest 100 percent throughout. There is never a dull moment in this film. The story maintains its direction and never once strays away. This film had it all, with humor, suspense, mystery, loss, and success. It is very rare that a film can accomplish so much, but on top of all this, it incorporated my favorite aspect of cinema with an OUTSTANDING surprise ending. Everyone should know by now how I love to be shocked in movies, I still resent a friend of mine for ruining the ending for the Sixth Sense. Many of my all time favorites, including The Usual Suspects, Shawshank Redemption, The Village, In the Heat of The Night, Seven, The Prestige, and Saw all have those moments at the end where I literally sat on my couch with my jaw dropped open for a good 10-15 seconds after the final credits had rolled. In complete and utter shock, theses films seem to lead your mind one way and at the last second, completely flip you around, this film is certainly no exception, and I loved every minute of it.
Acting: 8/10
This film had 2 things, and I do mean only 2 things going for it as far as acting goes, and that is Robert Redford(The Natural, All the President’s Men) and Paul Newman (Cool Hand Luke, Road to Perdition). These two amazing actors joined forced just 3 years earlier in the classic Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. The two main characters give 2 flawless performances while working together as slick con artists who lie and cheat people for a living. The way they portray these “grifters” is in a way that literally carries the film on their backs. Though the story was amazing and unique, and the ending was downright shocking, I feel as though this movie would have been lost in the shuffle if not for the great acting of its two main characters. The supporting cast and all others involved in this film were very replaceable, and just show how much of a treasure both Redford and Newman were in their prime.
Visuals: 6/10
I am not big on giving a lot of points on visuals based on costumes and settings, I’m more the type to give 9’s or 20’s when there are special effects and amazing views. I’m one that feels that if a story is supposed to take place in a certain era, and the designers and producers make the costumes and settings look like that actual time, then that’s just part of the work, because they chose to make it that era. I’m not saying that this isn’t impressive, because I know that it is. It has takes n amazing skill the do the research and find out exactly what clothes people wore, what did the store fronts, the street signs look like, etc. I just simple rate the visuals based on my personal reference. That being said, I cannot give this film a 9 or 10 and give something like Jurassic Park or Star Wars the same thing. Most people would disagree, because this film won the Academy Award for Best Art Direction and best costume design. I understand that this is only comparing the movies that came out that year, and my reviews compare movies from all times, but in my mind I was forced to give this a reasonably average score on visuals.
Sound: 4/10
Again, we are going to run into the same situation, because this film won an Academy Award for best Music, Score, and or Adaptation, but I really hated the background music of this movie. It seemed very old fashioned, and yes, I know this film was made over 35 years ago, but it just wasn’t my cup of tea. I am even going to go out on a limb and say that at times, this film’s music actually distracted me from enjoying the movie. I felt as though this was a film about hard and sneaky criminals, and in the background you constantly heard circus music. It just didn’t match. The best way I could describe it, would be imagine watching the Godfather using the soundtrack of Toy Story. You wouldn’t get the same effect.
Overall Entertainment: 9/10
This movie won the Oscar for best Picture in 1973, and I couldn’t agree with it more. Subtracting my personal feelings on the visuals and sound, I loved every single second of the 209 minute film and would love to watch it over and over again. I highly recommend that if you haven’t already become familiar with this film, make an effort to go out and find it, and watch it. You will thank me later lol.
I am not big on giving a lot of points on visuals based on costumes and settings, I’m more the type to give 9’s or 20’s when there are special effects and amazing views. I’m one that feels that if a story is supposed to take place in a certain era, and the designers and producers make the costumes and settings look like that actual time, then that’s just part of the work, because they chose to make it that era. I’m not saying that this isn’t impressive, because I know that it is. It has takes n amazing skill the do the research and find out exactly what clothes people wore, what did the store fronts, the street signs look like, etc. I just simple rate the visuals based on my personal reference. That being said, I cannot give this film a 9 or 10 and give something like Jurassic Park or Star Wars the same thing. Most people would disagree, because this film won the Academy Award for Best Art Direction and best costume design. I understand that this is only comparing the movies that came out that year, and my reviews compare movies from all times, but in my mind I was forced to give this a reasonably average score on visuals.
Sound: 4/10
Again, we are going to run into the same situation, because this film won an Academy Award for best Music, Score, and or Adaptation, but I really hated the background music of this movie. It seemed very old fashioned, and yes, I know this film was made over 35 years ago, but it just wasn’t my cup of tea. I am even going to go out on a limb and say that at times, this film’s music actually distracted me from enjoying the movie. I felt as though this was a film about hard and sneaky criminals, and in the background you constantly heard circus music. It just didn’t match. The best way I could describe it, would be imagine watching the Godfather using the soundtrack of Toy Story. You wouldn’t get the same effect.
Overall Entertainment: 9/10
This movie won the Oscar for best Picture in 1973, and I couldn’t agree with it more. Subtracting my personal feelings on the visuals and sound, I loved every single second of the 209 minute film and would love to watch it over and over again. I highly recommend that if you haven’t already become familiar with this film, make an effort to go out and find it, and watch it. You will thank me later lol.
Chux Flix Final Rating: 74/100
Favorite trivia for this film: The movie was filmed on the back lot of Universal studios and the diner in which Hooker meets Lonnegan is the same diner interior used in Back to the Future (1985) in which Marty McFly first meets his father and calls Doc Brown.
No comments:
Post a Comment