(which is probably why n_L doesn't like it)
I'm also glad that you give The Gentlemen a 8 and not a 10, it gives me higher hopes for Wrath of Man!
They Won't Believe Me (1947) - 9/10. Any film that includes both Jane Greer and Susan Hayward is an event. But an even stronger visual draw are all those fabulous suits Robert Young wears throughout the picture. He never seems to wear the same one twice. In the courtroom framing device he exhibits a conservative gray-almost-white double-breasted job with a loud tie (we get that Bob is a flamboyant-tie kind of guy). When the flashback begins we see Bob in another double-breasted suit, this time with a light check pattern, and another loud tie, the proper attire for a kept husband who cheats. For his second illicit rendezvous with Jane Greer, he wears another light gray suit, this time with a window-pane motif (and yes, with another wild tie). Back home to pack and leave Greta (Rita Johnson), Bob has changed into tweeds, but it isn't long before he's lounging in silk PJs in his Pullman sleeper on the way to California. For his new job as an LA broker, Bob dons a charcoal gray (possibly navy) pin-striped double-breasted suit, this time complemented by a polka-dot tie. Later, when he runs into Janice (Jane Greer), he's wearing a similar suit but with a different (much louder) tie. Giving dictation at the office later, he sports a (brown or gray) 3-button, single-breasted number with wide stripes. At a concert with Greta he's in tux and black bow tie, and for his second confrontation scene with Greta he models another double-breasted dark suit with yet another striped pattern (this time the tie has paisleys). For the kiss-off scene with Velda (Susan Hayward) Bob makes good use of a gray pin-stripe with a fantastic tie of vertical stripes. At the Tulare County ranch house, Bob arrives in something resembling a shooting jacket, but later we see him in a checked shirt and trousers. Back in LA for his reunion with Velda, the well-dressed cad is wearing a light 3-piece suit with a grid pattern (and another crazy tie). For his escape to Reno with Velda, Bob dons a herringbone tweed jacket, which he is seen wearing at the hospital after the accident. In "Jamaica" (played by the California coast), Bob sits comfortably in a light gray, single-breasted suit with electric tie when he sees Janice yet again. For the plane ride home Bob wears a dark 3-piece with a subdued tie, but later, in the same suit, we see he's swapped out the first tie for one of his usual suspects (the return of the tie with the vertical stripes!). Later, for his confrontation with Trenton (Tom Powers), the suit has been swapped but the tie retained--it's in that tie that ultimately he's taken into police custody. Out of the flashback, we return to the courtroom and Bob's original suit, the tie now loosened, askew. When the sartorial niceties are no longer observed, things are certainly looking bad for our Bob.
Thin Red Line (1998) 8.5/10Now here are two issues I have with Terrence that are linked: people and nature are always too beautiful. He should definitely cast people who aren't among the 20 most beautiful people alive. And he should also show roten, violent nature. Especially here in TRL, where a character even mentions how nature is actually cruel and violent too. Malick's film would feel richer and truer to themselves if he wouldn't hide these things.
Thin Red Line (1998) 8.5/10Haden't seen it in a while. Great first part, it looses steam in the second part. It's still good, but the "calm" dialogue scenes never reach the intensity Malick was able to offer in the most "linear" scenes from his subsequent movies.Now here are two issues I have with Terrence that are linked: people and nature are always too beautiful. He should definitely cast people who aren't among the 20 most beautiful people alive. And he should also show roten, violent nature. Especially here in TRL, where a character even mentions how nature is actually cruel and violent too. Malick's film would feel richer and truer to themselves if he wouldn't hide these things.
I remember in Days of Heaven, Richard Gere was supposed to be a poor farmworker, but always had a crisp clean shirt and never a hair out of place
That always bothered me in American westerns: crisp clean clothes, all had perfect teeth, most clean shaven even on the trail...
Watched this again--man, what a film. Evelyn Keyes is quite fetching, and has a lot of fun with the verbal fencing. Dick Powell does his usual world-weary snark routine and to perfection. I liked the bit where, after learning a friend has betrayed him, he rips the guy's shirt off (earlier he'd given the guy the shirt as a gift). True, there's not a lot to the plot, but it's more than nothing. Ellen Drew makes a good lush and conniver. Thomas Gomez is good as the heavy heavy. There are a lot of non-essential bits that really make the film. There's a great routine where a nosy neighbor in an apartment building comes to see what police inspector Lee J. Cobb is up to and he sends her packing. Their exchange is a scream. The ending is rather lame and there isn't enough gun play, but on balance this rates an 8/10.