perhaps the most overrated film in history

Rating: 1/10 (1 November 2005)

When reviewing on imdb, the window pops up a selection between spoiler or no spoiler for your review. can one spoil a movie this flat? this predictable? Maybe in 1957 the characters in this movie seemed thick and nuanced but having seen this recently for the first time i was struck by how one dimensional each seemed. from the first few minutes of the movie you can easily decipher who's going to be a "bad" guy and who's going to be a bastion of choirboy-like fairness and innocence. maybe given the self contained nature of the plot there is much room for character development but perhaps something a little less like caricatures....
the other thing that bothered me about the movie that pays so much attention to method of reason is the fact that early on in the movie it is stated that the knife had been wiped clean before the police got there. but according to witnesses the boy allegedly fled right a way. this seems a bit incongruent and yet no one in the movie has brought it up and no critical review of the movie seems to have brought it up. it would seem to be a major factor in the case and i can't believe it is overlooked. instead it's omission from discussion only makes the whole plot look as thin as the characters.........
and upon further review each "explanation" or alternative given to explain away the facts in the case seems far-fetched.... but taken all together seems a full on miscarriage of justice. a nuanced director might have ended in a hung jury. NOPE. this one dimensional movie has to either be 1 or 0 or in the case of the jury all for or all against.
even at a paltry ninety minutes it still greatly overstays it's welcome.
1/10