Second Harper movie and somehow I like it a
bit more than the first
one. Which is strange in a way because (a) I don’t usually go for crime
stories that involve our hero personal shit and (b) don’t like crime stories that
take place outside the big cities. They belong to urban jungles right?
Paul Newman is still overdoing his
character a bit too comically for my taste, but Drowning Pool is much darker
than its predecessor. It also deals with more sinister topics than “simple” greed
and successfully manages to merge couple of fucked up family dramas into
crime/mystery. Don’t get me wrong – it’s still as hard boiled as they come and
body count reaches quite respectable number at the end!
Supporting cast is not such an all-star affair
as in the first one but they somehow function together even better. Joanne
Woodward is of course great but real mini-star here is Murray Hamilton who
plays villain perfectly. He steals every scene he’s in even from the mighty Mr.
Newman.
Good stuff indeed. Probably mostly
well-known for its ending climax escape scene but I liked it because of its dark
moody noir atmosphere and well developed story that works on many levels. It feels
very modern even today and – as Harper – doesn’t age at all.
8/10
No comments:
Post a Comment