Dick Tracy

A flood of memories came swirling my way when I caught this on Turner Classic Movies recently. You see, being in my mid-20’s, this was one of the biggest movies in my childhood. I remember the huge promotion and hype the film had, with it’s all-star cast, the toys, the music, this flick was a really big deal, and of course I loved it. So now, seeing it for the first time since I was in my late childhood, I came to actually really like this movie a lot. It’s pure entertainment, featuring many homages in its cinematography to the film noirs of the 1940’s. The story is very simple, it’s Dick Tracy versus the whole crime world in the city, led by the head honcho Big Boy (played with all the insanity of Al Pacino). Warren Beatty really went all-out in this movie, stylistically. Not only is the cinematography impressive, it’s use of color as well. The tones of reds, greens and yellows hang over all the sets and props of the film, and the old cars look excellent. The make up is pretty impressive too, especially for characters like Prune Face (RG Armstrong), Influence (Henry Silva) and Flat Top (William Forsythe). Anyway this is a fun piece of nostalgia from my childhood, and it’s definitely more style over substance, but it doesn’t take away from the entertainment.

Look out for cameos by James Caan, Kathy Bates and Dustin Hoffman.