There's more or less open warfare in the underworld as "Big Boy" Caprice makes a play to become the Boss of the city. The only man who can stand in his way is incorruptible detective Dick Tracy. But Tracy has a few problems of his own. His obsessive approach to his work is undermining his relationship with his girlfriend, and now there's sultry femme fatale Breathless Mahoney on the scene, offering to provide the evidence he wants if only he'll choose her instead.
Sometimes, a film is less than the sum of its parts, and this is definitely one of those times. Accomplished director/star Warren Beatty has assembled an exceptional cast (and Madonna, though to be fair her performance is solid), and gone to great lengths to capture the visual style of the original artist. The film also has great set and costume design, utilising only a handful of colours in a deliberate effort to evoke its comic strip origins.
Unfortunately, the cast and visuals can't save the script. In part this is because they actively work against each other. Robert De Niro is a fine actor, but when you make him unrecognisable with prosthetics and then have him mumble every line, you're not really getting the full effect. Yes, I know that's the character he's playing, but maybe don't cast him in that role, yeah?
Another big problem is the script, which is rather unimaginative and didactic. It tells us Dick Tracy loves Tess Trueheart, but it doesn't do much of a job of showing it, and a lot of the character beats in the film are either similarly crude. I know the source material isn't exactly sophisticated stuff, with its physically deformed criminals like The Brow or Little Face, but in this regard the film really needed to try a little harder.
Ultimately, Dick Tracy is worth checking out if you're a fan of the source material or if you can enjoy its lush visuals for their own sake - and on that basis, I did quite enjoy it - but if you're looking for a strong script, you should pursue another suspect.
No comments:
Post a Comment