Enjoyable, but a missed opportunity

Rating: 6/10 (31 March 2013)

Read praise for this movie elsewhere. Its faults are what are interesting. Why cast big names as the unknown pressmen? It called out for unknowns rather than Redford and Hoffman in your face all the time. There was no serious attempt to describe the build up of evidence by our sleuths. The audience could not be expected to follow detail, so wrap up the story in action and atmosphere instead. Hill Street Blues was built on that notion. So the series of investigations could have seemed repetitive if there was no feel of an approaching goal. This led to a very unsatisfactory finale. All this could have been avoided by using a narrator, but I can see that could have spoiled the style and directed attention from our heroes. The informant character would have been perfect for this, explaining not only his motivation but provided a vital role filling in the story line. The film noir bits would have been perfect for his talk over.