"THIS GUN FOR HIRE" (1942) Review

"THIS GUN FOR HIRE" (1942) Review

In response to the success of Warner Brother's 1941 movie, "THE MALTESE FALCON", Paramount Pictures followed up with its own film noir flick with its adaptation of Graham Greene's 1936 novel, "A Gun for Sale". This film not only made Alan Ladd a star, despite receiving fourth billing; it also marked the first of his four movies with co-star Veronica Lake. 

Set during the early months of America's participation in World War II, the movie opened with a hitman named Raven killing a chemist and blackmailer in San Francisco. Raven's employer, a nightclub owner named Willard Gates, also serves as a middle-man for the employer of the murdered chemist. After Raven hands over a stolen chemical formula to Gates, the latter pays him with marked bills and reports them to the Los Angeles Police as stolen cash from his company, Nitro Chemical. Raven learns of the set up and seeks revenge against both Gates and the latter's employer, Alvin Brewster. Meanwhile, LAPD Detective Michael Crane is in San Francisco, visiting his girlfriend and nightclub entertainer Ellen Graham, when he is assigned to the case. Unfortunately, Raven manages to escape from San Francisco aboard a passenger train bound for Los Angeles. One of his fellow passengers is Ellen, who has maneuvered herself to be hired by Gates to entertain in his Hollywood nightclub. Unbeknownst to everyone other than Ellen, Gates and Brewster are under suspicion as traitors selling secrets to the enemy. After the train arrives in Los Angeles, Raven becomes aware of the police and uses Ellen as a hostage to elude from them.

In a nutshell, "THIS GUN FOR HIRE" is a pretty damn good crime drama that seemed to defy the usual formula of film noir. To be honest, it seemed more like a combination of a crime drama, psychological thriller and a espionage tale. Although Alan Ladd was billed fourth in the movie, his character, the psychologically unstable Raven, pretty much dominated the story. Because of this, I found myself wondering why Paramount Studios even bothered to give him fourth billing. Veronica Lake, who had already become a star within a year or two, received top billing. The story allowed her to pair off with both the movie's leading man Robert Preston and Ladd. She had a nice screen chemistry with Preston, who portrayed her fiancé. But with Ladd, she really sizzled. Come to think of it, Preston had a better screen chemistry with Ladd, six years later in the 1948 Western called "WHISPERING SMITH" than he did with Lake.

I have never read Graham Greene's 1936. One blogger once compared it unfavorably to the 1942 film adaptation. Others have claimed that it is a pretty good novel, if not one of Greene's best. However, I can say that the screenplay written by Albert Maltz and W.R. Burnett for the 1942 film is well written. The movie featured a strong narrative filled filled with exciting action, well crafted characterizations and a great deal of tension. A few of my favorite scenes featured some good action, including Raven's escape from the police at the Union Station railyard, his rescue of Ellen from Gates' Hollywood mansion and the finale set inside the Nitro Chemical building. I was very impressed by director Frank Tuttle's handling of Raven's escape from the San Francisco boarding house, following his murder of the blackmailing chemist. Although I would not consider it an action scene, it was filled with some pretty damn good tension. And one of the movie's best scenes featured Raven's conversation with Ellen about his brutal childhood at the hands of an abusive aunt. This scene elevated Raven from a cold-blood thug to a damaged man who seemed to long for some kind of friendship or warmth from another human being.

I just realized that most of my favorite scenes in "THIS GUN FOR HIRE" featured Alan Ladd as Raven. No wonder this movie made him a star. He was the best thing about this film. And I defy any actor to steal a film away from the likes of Robert Preston, Veronica Lake, Marc Lawrence and especially Laird Cregar. But I thought he did. I have always believed that Ladd was underrated as a screen actor. The role of Raven, along with a few others, have convinced me that he was a much better actor than most people realize - even to this day. But"THIS GUN FOR HIRE" also featured first-rate performances from the rest of the cast. Veronica Lake gave a charming performance as Ellen Graham, the magician/entertainer who becomes a temporary spy for the U.S. Although her character is held hostage either by Raven or Gates, I like the fact that her Ellen is an emotionally tough character who manages to hold her own in the company of killers. 

Robert Preston found himself stuck with a rather dull character in the form of LAPD Detective Mike Crane. Paramount and Tuttle were damn lucky to get Preston for this role. Because thanks to him, he injected a good deal of energy into the character, allowing the latter to be a lot more bearable and sympathetic than it would have been in the hands of a lesser actor. Marc Lawrence gave a memorably funny performance as Gates' chauffeur/henchman Tommy. Yes, Lawrence was funny. He was also a bit scary. And the actor did a first-rate job in balancing the two aspects of the character. Tully Marshall had another year to live and three more films to make when he portrayed the poisonous owner of Nitro Chemical - Alvin Brewster. I thought he did a pretty good job in portraying capitalism at its most corrupt. But there were moments in that final scene between Brewster and Raven that his performance seemed a bit hammy. It is a damn pity that Laird Cregar only had another two-and-a-half years left to live when he portrayed the anxiety-ridden Willard Gates. Cregar probably gave my second favorite performance in the entire movie. Cregar's Gates turned out to be one of the most unusual villains I have ever seen in a Hollywood movie - smooth-tongued and intelligent, yet at the same time, extremely nervous and a bit cowardly. Watching Cregar twitch his way across the screen, I found it amazing that his character proved capable of making ruthless decision.

Was there anything about "THIS GUN FOR HIRE" that I found unappealing? Other than Tully Marshall's occasional forays into hammy acting, I found the earlier rail yard sequence that featured Ellen and Raven's evasion from the police a bit too long for my tastes. Aside from Raven's childhood recollections, this scene nearly put me to sleep. Was there anything else? Hmmm . . . I found the idea of Ellen being recruited by a U.S. senator to expose Gates and Brewster a little hard to accept. Nor did I understand why Mike Crane took on the job of finding Raven, while he was still on vacation in San Francisco. This would have been easier to accept if he had been an F.B.I. agent.


However, "THIS GUN FOR HIRE" still proved to be an excellent crime drama filled with good action, drama and storytelling. It also proved to be an first-rate stepping stone for Alan Ladd's career. And the movie also featured excellent performances from the likes of Veronica Lake, Robert Preston and especially Laird Cregar. Is it a film noir? I cannot honestly say. Then again, I never believe there was a definition of film noir, despite what many film critics might say.

"LOST" RETROSPECT: (1.01-1.02) "The Pilot"

"LOST" RETROSPECT: (1.01-1.02) "The Pilot"

The pilot episode of some of my favorite television series have rarely impressed me . . . if not at all. There are a few exceptions to the rule. And one of those exceptions happened to the be pilot episode for ABC-TV's"LOST". 

Created by J.J. Abrams, Jeffrey Leiber and Damon Lindelof, "LOST" aired on television for six seasons, between 2004 and 2010. As many fans know, "LOST" told about the survivors of a commercial passenger plane crash on a mysterious South Pacific island, while flying between Sydney and Los Angeles. While television viewers got to know these survivors during their time on the island, but also through flashbacks revealing their past. The series' first episode aired in two parts on September 22, 2004.

(1.01) "Pilot (Part 1)" introduced the series' leading character, a spinal surgeon named Dr. Jack Shephard, who wakes up in the middle of the jungle following the crash of Oceanic Airlines Flight 815. He stumbles onto the beach and finds the chaos left behind from Oceanic 815's crash. As everyone knows, the plane broke into three pieces before crashing on the island. Jack and most of the survivors ended upon with the fuselage. The cockpit and the plane's first-class section ended deep into the jungle with no survivors, save the pilot. And the tail section fell into the ocean on the other side of the island. Jack and some of the survivors like John Locke and Hugo "Hurley" Reyes help other passengers with injuries or dodging burning pieces. After helping some of the passengers, Jack goes to another part of the beach to tend to his own injury, when he meets Kate Austen. She sews up his injury, while the two bond. Many other things occur during the episode. Survivors either form friendships or get on each others' nerves. During their first night on the beach, everyone becomes unnerved by sounds of a monster deep in the jungle. The following day, Jack heads toward the cockpit to retrieve the plane's transceiver and is accompanied by Kate and musician Charlie Pace. They retrieve the transceiver and encounter the badly injured pilot, who informs them that the plane had lost radio contact six hours into the flight and veered off course. Before he can share any further information, he is seized by a strange being and killed. Jack, Kate and Charlie make a run for it.

(1.02) "Pilot (Part 2)" continue Jack, Kate and Charlie's flight from the monster that killed the pilot. During their absence, the dog of 10 year-old survivor Walt Lloyd finds a pair of handcuffs. A Middle Eastern survivor name Sayid Jarrah comes under suspicion from a Southern-born passenger named "Sawyer". Jack and his two companions make it back to the beach with the transceiver. Sayid, Kate, "Sawyer", Charlie and a step-brother-sister team named Boone Carlyle and Shannon Rutherford trek to the high ground to use the transceiver. Instead of contacting help, they manage to interpret a message sent earlier by a French woman on the island. One of the badly wounded survivors on the beach turn out to be a U.S. marshal demanding the whereabouts of his prisoner, a woman. Flashbacks reveal that the prisoner is Kate.

I will not deny that "LOST" is one of my favorite television series. It is not on my list of the top ten favorite shows. But it is on my list of top twenty favorites. Despite my favoritism toward "LOST", I cannot deny that it also possessed some seriously flawed writing. But it was not on display in the two-part pilot. Well . . . somewhat. A few of the occurrences in this episode ended up contradicting the series' future narrative. 

It is ironic that the first villainous character to make his/her appearance in the series turned out to be the main villain - the Smoke Monster aka the Man in Black. The survivors heard its "roar" during their first night on the island. And he killed the Oceanic 815's pilot while the latter discussed the plane's location with Jack and Kate. In fact, the Smoke Monster killed another survivor in an early Season Three episode - Mr. Eko. While many fans are still debating the reason behind the MIB's murder of Mr. Eko, no one has figured out why the pilot was killed. Especially after Season Six revealed the list of candidates for the island's new caretaker. I suspect that the MIB was simply being portrayed as a supernatural monster before the writers had decided to portray him as a villain with a purpose.

I have two more complaints about the episode. Some of the characterizations struck me as one-dimensional. This was especially the case for Shannon Rutherford, who was portrayed as some bitchy Valley Girl; Jin Kwon, who was written as a cliché of the oppressive Asian husband; Sun Kwon, who was portrayed as the typically oppressed Asian wife; and James "Sawyer" Ford, who was not only unlikable, but also the one-dimensional Southern white male. In Sawyer's case, not only was his character portrayed in the worst clichéd manner possible, poor Josh Holloway was stuck with some pretty bad dialogue - especially in Part 2. He fared a lot better as the series progressed. Speaking of dialogue - yeech! Yes, I thought it was pretty bad. It was more than bad. I found it somewhat infantile and unmemorable.

Fortunately, the good outweighed the bad. Despite some of the one-dimensional characterization and bad dialogue, there were some pretty good performances. For me, one of the best performances came from Matthew Fox, who dived right into the role as the series' lead character, Dr. Jack Shephard. Fox gave early hints of the complicated and deeply flawed character later revealed in future episodes. Fox's early revelation of Jack's flaws must have been subtle, for the later revelation of his flaws seemed to have taken many by surprise. Dominic Monaghan gave a funny and charming performance as the drug-addicted musician, Charlie Pace. And yet, his performance was skillfully shaded with hints of his character's drug addiction. Thanks to Naveen Andrews' subtle, yet intense performance and good writing, the character of Sayid Jarrah rose above the usual clichés featuring Middle Eastern characters. Emilie de Ravin was a delight as the pregnant Australian survivor, Claire Littleton. As for Evangeline Lilly, she did a pretty good job as Kate Austen, the survivor trying to hide her status as a Federal prisoner. However, I had some difficulty accepting her as the take charge type, as the script tried to portray her in Part 2. Terry O'Quinn was perfectly mysterious as John Locke, but viewers had to wait for another two episodes before he began to shine in the role. And Harold Perrineau gave a skillful performance as Michael Dawson, the inexperienced father of 10 year-old survivor, Walt Lloyd.

I felt that the narrative for "The Pilot", which was written by Abrams and Lindelof, proved to be a well-written adventure. The story covered all of the elements for a story about survivors on a tropical island. The addition of the Smoke Monster injected a little horror and a great deal of mystery that would become the series' hallmark. One of the aspects of "The Pilot" that I found particularly interesting was that it started with a close-up of Jack Shephard's eye - post crash. In other words, this story did not start with the crash. Audiences were not treated to scenes aboard Oceanic Flight 815 and the actual crash, except during flashbacks. Very unusual. There were other scenes that I still find fascinating after nine years. My God! Has it been nine years? Those scenes include Jack, Kate and Charlie's escape from the cockpit, following the pilot's death; the discovery of Danielle Rousseau's message in Part 2; the encounter with the polar bear; and the survivors' first awareness of the Smoke Monster's existence. But the one scene that many consider outstanding - including myself - is that opening shot of the fuselage wreckage on the beach and the chaos that surrounded it. I must admit that not only did J.J. Abrams really outdid himself in this particular scene, it is probably one of his best directed sequences in his entire career.

Despite a few hiccups regarding dialogue and some one-dimensional characterizations, "LOST" provided one of the best series openings I have ever viewed on television, thanks to some superb direction by J.J. Abrams, a damn fine cast and a well written teleplay. It is a pity that the series has never been able to maintain such excellent consistency during the rest of its six seasons on the air.

"DR. NO" (1962) Photo Gallery

This month marks a very special cinematic event. Not only does it mark the 50th anniversary of the release of the 1962 James Bond movie, "DR. NO"; but also the 50th anniversary of the James Bond movie franchise, produced by Eon Productions. The movie stars Sean Connery as James Bond. Happy birthday, 007! Below are images from the 1962 movie: 


"DR. NO" (1962) 50th Anniversary Photo Gallery

"SENSE AND SENSIBILITY" (1971) Review

"SENSE AND SENSIBILITY" (1971) Review

For some reason, I still find it hard to believe that until recently, very few people were aware that the first adaptation of Jane Austen's 1811 novel, "Sense and Sensibility", dated as far back as 1971. After all, people have been aware of other Austen adaptations during this same period or earlier. Even the Wikipedia site fails to mention it, except in connection with one of the cast members. What was about this four-part miniseries that eluded so many Austen fans? 

In "SENSE AND SENSIBILITY", a wealthy landowner named Mr. Dashwood dies, leaving his two daughters and second wife at the mercy of his son by his first marriage, thanks to the rules of inheritance. When the son fails to financially help his sisters and stepmother, the trio are forced to live at a meager cottage, thanks to the generosity of Mrs. Dashwood's cousin. The miniseries follows the love lives of the sisters, while they deal with their new penniless status.

I could have went into greater detail about Elinor and Marianne Dashwood. But what would have been the point? Austen's novel and the other adaptations have made both their story and characters well known to fans. Everyone knows that the Dashwood sisters' penniless state have made them undesirable as potential mates among the English upper-class. And many know that Elinor Dashwood is the older and more sensible sister, who kept her emotions suppressed behind a facade of stoic behavior. They also know that Marianne is the younger sisters, whose romantic enthusiasm led to emotional excesses and irrational behavior. Was there something unique about this adaptation of Austen's novel? Hmmm. Other than it was probably the first version of the 1811 novel and the first of four versions to exclude the character of the youngest Dashwood sister, Margaret. 

Overall, I believe that "SENSE AND SENSIBILITY" turned out to be an entertaining and well-paced television miniseries. But it was not perfect. One, I felt that screenwriter Denis Constanduros made a few missteps in his adaptation. I wish that Constanduros had included a scene featuring John Dashwood's last conversation with his dying father. I felt that his eventually betrayal of his promise, due to his wife's capriciousness would have possessed more bite. I also felt that Constanduros could have included more scenes featuring Marianne and John Willoughy's courtship. The period between their first meeting and Willoughby's decision to end their romance seemed to go by in a flash. It happened too soon for me to understand Marianne's grief over his rejection of her. Although there were a good deal of exterior shots of the English countryside, I wish there had been more exterior shots of early 19th century London, during the sisters' trip. The London sequences made the miniseries feel more like a filmed play. And why on earth did Constanduros allowed Elinor to pay a visit to Edward Ferrars' London rooms alone? What was he thinking? He should have allowed Elinor to summon Edward to Mrs. Jennings' home in order to deliver Colonel Brandon's news about a new job. I have one last major problem. Why on earth did costume designer had Elinor and Marianne wearing identical traveling outfits? They were not twin sisters. And no siblings from an upper-class family - especially of the female gender - would be caught dead in this manner:

 

What was costumer designer Charles Knode thinking?

I also had some problems with the casting and performances. I had a real problem with actress Ciaran Madden's performance as Marianne Dashwood. How can I put it? It was over-the-top. I realize that she was at least 25 years old at the time this production was filmed. But did she and director David Giles really thought an exaggerated performance was necessary to portray the emotional 17 year-old Marianne? Was that their idea of portraying an emotional adolescent? And why would actor Michael Alderidge use a strong, regional accent for his portrayal of Sir John Middleton? I realize that his mother-in-law and wife came from a middle-class background. But Sir John and his cousin Mrs. Dashwood, did not. Both actresses who portrayed the Steele sisters - Frances Cuka and Maggie Jones - seemed at least a decade-and-a-half too old for their roles. And Kay Gallie's Fanny Dashwood seemed like such a major disappointment. Her Fanny struck me as too passive-aggressive and nervous in compare to the other actresses who portrayed the role.

But despite some disappointments, I must admit that "SENSE AND SENSIBILITY" turned out to be a pretty good production. Hell, I like it a lot more than I do the 1981 television version. Thanks to Constanduros's script and Giles' direction, the four-part miniseries struck me as well paced - aside from Marianne and Willoughby's courtship. Aside from the traveling outfits, I must admit that I found Knode's costume designs both colorful and elegant. And like the 1995 movie, I was happy to see that the screenplay allowed Marianne to become aware of Colonel Brandon before her meeting with Willoughby . . . allowing the pair's eventual romance in the last episode very credible.

There were also some very good performances in "SENSE AND SENSIBILITY". I found myself surprisingly impressed by Richard Owens' performance as Colonel Brandon. At first, I barely paid attention to him. But I must admit that his performance actually grew on me and I thought he did a credible job of slowly revealing Brandon's passion for Marianne. Despite his strong regional accent, I must admit that Michael Aldridge was perfectly cast as Mrs. Dashwood's gregarious cousin, Sir John Middleton. And despite her age, Frances Cuka did a very good of conveying Lucy Steele's manipulations regarding Edward, Elinor and the Ferrars family . . . even if I found it a bit obvious. I was very impressed by Milton Johns' performance as Elinor and Marianne's spineless older half-brother John Dashwood. In fact, I feel that he gave one of the better performances in the miniseries. Robin Ellis gave a solid performance as Edward Ferrars. However, I must admit that I was not that impressed by his screen chemistry with Joanna David's Elinor. In an ARTICLE I had written about Jane Austen's rogues, I stated that I found Clive Francis' portrayal of the caddish John Willoughby unmemorable. I take it back. On a second viewing, I found myself surprisingly impressed by his performance. I think I may have been distracted by the so-called Regency wig he was wearing . . . or the speed of the Marianne-Willoughby courtship. But I thought he gave a very complex performance.

But there were two performances in "SENSE AND SENSIBILITY" that I found outstanding. One of them belonged to Joanna David, who was perfect - well . . . almost - as Elinor Dashwood. She was one of the few performers who managed to restrain from "playing to the second balcony" as many other stage-trained actors tend to do. Mind you, there were moments when she seemed incapable of projecting Elinor's passionate nature behind the sensible facade. But more than any other person in the cast, she did a superb job in carrying the miniseries on her shoulders. The other outstanding performance turned out to be Patricia Rutledge's portrayal of the vivacious Mrs. Jennings, Sir John's mother-in-law. She was in her early 40s at the time and technically, too young for the role. But I cannot deny that Rutledge seemed like the very personification of the verbose and interfering, yet warm-hearted widow. Of the four Mrs. Jennings I have seen, only Elizabeth Spriggs from the 1995 movie seemed her equal.

"SENSE AND SENSIBILITY" is not the best adaptation of Jane Austen's 1811 novel, despite being the first. And it possessed certain aspects in both the script and casting that I found questionable. But thanks to David Giles' direction, Denis Constanduros' screenplay, and superb performances especially from Joanna David and Patricia Rutledge; I feel that it turned out to be a pretty damn good adaptation in the end. I would highly recommend it.

"Post Season Three Leadership of the Charmed Ones"

"POST SEASON THREE LEADERSHIP OF THE CHARMED ONES"

I am probably going to get bashed for this, but I never thought it was a good thing for the writers to automatically allow Piper Halliwell to become the new leader of the Charmed Ones in Season Four of "CHARMED", due to her new position as the oldest sister.  In fact, I believe it was a big mistake.

I am sorry, but I do not think that former middle sister Piper ever had the personality to be a real leader. And I found her "growth" as a character and a leader from Season Four to Season Eight rather hard to believe. Even by the last two seasons. Her idea of leadership was to be curt and bitchy a lot. And to be honest, the Halliwells made some really bad decisions during her tenure as "leader" - half-demon Cole Turner's death in (4.20) "Long Live the Queen", Piper's decision to allow husband/whitelighter Leo Wyatt to change her personality in (5.23) "Oh Goddess! (Part 2)", Phoebe and half-sister Paige Matthews' theft of police detective Darryl Morris' soul in (6.01) "Valhalley of the Dolls (Part 1)", Paige convincing her Season Six boyfriend Richard Montana into stripping his powers, Phoebe and Paige's murder of Rick Gettridge in (6.17) "Hyde School Reunion", and the deal with the Avatars in (7.12) "Extreme Makeover: World Edition".

New middle sister Phoebe probably would have made a slightly better leader if she had not been so self-absorbed and immature at times. And Paige would have made an even better leader, despite her inexperience in S4. Unfortunately for Paige, Kern and his writers were so hellbent upon turning her into a flake between mid-Season 5 and the series finale.

Do not get me wrong. I like Piper. But unlike oldest sister Prue Halliwell, who was killed in Season Three's (3.22) "All Hell Breaks Loose"; she never really knew how to think matters through. I am not saying that Prue always did. There were times when she had jumped to conclusions. But never at the scale in which Piper, Phoebe and Paige did. Especially Piper. And more than anything, I never understood Kern's decision to turn Piper into Uber Bitch or a second-rate Prue, because she was the new leader. It really seemed to go against her personality. I have no problem with Piper becoming a stronger personality. It is another when Kern's decision to make her the new leader because of her age, ended up turning her into a second-rate Prue or an Uber Bitch.

"THIS GUN FOR HIRE" (1942) Photo Gallery

Below are images from "THIS GUN FOR HIRE", the 1942 adaptation of Graham Greene's 1936 novel, "A Gun For Sale". Directed by Frank Tuttle, the movie starred Veronica Lake, Robert Preston, Laird Cregar and Alan Ladd: 



"THIS GUN FOR HIRE" (1942) Photo Gallery

"SPEED RACER" (2008) Review

"SPEED RACER" (2008) Review

When I first saw the trailer for "SPEED RACER" . . . I had simply cringed in my seat. Granted, I had been a fan of the Japanese cartoon when I was a kid. But looking at that trailer, my mind simply cried, "Hell no!"There was no way in the world I was going to see this movie. 

But the more I saw the trailer, old memories of the cartoon kept welling in my thoughts. Soon, I found myself filled with nostalgia for the cartoon. I eventually decided to go see the movie after all. It might turn out to be a pile of crap, but I had to exorcise the ghosts of my childhood. Well . . . I went ahead and saw the movie. And I must say that it turned out to be a hell of a lot better than I had expected.

At a running time of two hours and fifteen minutes, "SPEED RACER" is about a young 18 year-old American (Emile Hirsch) with natural racing instincts. His goal is to become a world-class car racer, in the wake of the tragic death of his older brother, Rex Racer (Scott Porter) during the Casa Cristo, a cross-country rally. Speed is loyal to the family business, run by his parents Pops (John Goodman) and Mom (Susan Sarandon). Pops designed Speed's car, the Mach 5. The owner of Royalton Industries (Roger Allam) makes Speed a lucrative offer to join the company's racing team, but Speed rejects the offer, angering the owner. Speed also uncovers a secret that top corporate interests, including Royalton, are fixing races and cheating to gain profit. After Speed denies his offer to join his racing conglomerate, Royalton wants to ensure that Speed will not win any future races. Speed finds support from his parents and his girlfriend Trixie (Christina Ricci) and enters the Casa Cristo Rally in a partnership with his one-time rival, Racer X (Matthew Fox), in an effort to rescue his family's business and the racing sport itself.

I must admit that when I first saw this movie, the first ten minutes had left me puzzled. Although I enjoyed how the story introduced Speed Racer's obssession with racing and the death of his older brother, Rex Racer; I must admit that I had been taken aback by the movie's visuals. It looked very cartoonish and I have not seen such bold colors since Warren Beatty's 1990 film, "DICK TRACY". But my mind adjusted to this new visual style and proceeded to enjoy the rest of the story. In fact, by the time the movie focused upon The Casa Cristo cross-country race, I found myself marveling over John Gaeta's visual effects and David Tattersall's photography. Quite frankly, I also ended up enjoying Larry and Andy Wachowski's screenplay. "SPEED RACER" must be one of the few movies based upon a cartoon that possessed a strong social message - namely one against corporations' involvment in the sport. And I found it pleasantly surprising.

As for the cast, Emile Hirsch struck me as a little flat at first. But in the scene in which Speed rejected Royalton's offer, Hirsch's Speed Racer finally bloomed into life. Christina Ricci gave a fun and charming performance as Trixie, Speed's girlfriend. Both John Goodman and Susan Sarandon were excellent as Speed's parents. Both were given the opportunities to strut their acting skills in private scenes with Hirsch's Speed. And I do not think that Matthew Fox had never been as sexy and enigmatic as he was as Racer X - Speed's rival and ally in the fight against Royalton. The movie also featured a scene in which both he and Emile Hirsch gave a superb performances in an intense conversation about car racing between the two characters. I especially enjoyed his fight with a ninja assassin. Richard Roundtree gave a surprisingly sly and funny performance as Ben Burns, a former racer who became a commentator. To my surprise, Roger Allam's slightly bombastic performance as the corrupt Royalton did not bother me at all. In fact, his character's over-the-top personality seemed perfect for the movie. The biggest surprise turned out to be Paulie Litt as Spritle, the youngest Racer sibling. Perhaps I should not have been surprised. Regis Philbin once described the young television actor as a 40 year-old in a child's body. Perhaps he is right. But young Paulie was a bundle of energy with great comic timing.

"SPEED RACER" did possess a few imperfections. Either the movie is fifteen minutes too long or its pacing managed to drop off a bit, following the Casa Cristo race sequence. And I was a little annoyed with the Wachowski Brothers' interruption of the fascinating sequence between Speed and Royalton's discussion about the racing scene with comic moments featuring Spritle and his pet monkey, Chin Chin, trying to break into the businessman's candy storage. It just seemed out of place and it nearly ruined the marvelous scene between Speed and Royalton.

Many film critics had disliked the film. I suspect that "SPEED RACER"'s unusual visual style may have been a little too mind blowing for them. Unfortunately, a good number of moviegoers ended up paying attention to those critics. Which is a shame, in my opinion. I feel that "SPEED RACER" is one of the most entertaining films I have seen this year . . . hell, in the past decade; and one of the most unusual I have seen in a long time. And it was a shame when it bombed at the box office. There is an ironic post-script to the movie. When it was first released on DVD, those moviegoers who did not bother to go see it at the theaters, expressed surprised at how much they enjoyed it. I could have told them how enjoyable it was when it first hit the theaters back in May 2008.