I'm A Cynic So What I Say Doesn't Matter

Rating: 7/10 (5 May 2014)

Once in a while you find yourself stumbling upon a film whose reputation precedes it . It doesn't matter what anyone on this site or out in the wider world says about it . CASABLANCA is a case in point . Anything I or anyone else writers here is entirely superfluous because any insight has already been said and anyone saying anything negative is instantly considered a contrition merely for the sake of it . CASABLANCA is cinematic legend . End of . It should be noted however that despite being broadcast on a relatively regular basis in the 1970s on British television it hasn't appeared very often in recent years . It might be wrong to point out that it was a mainstay in the top ten of the IMDb top 250 but nowadays it's sliding down the list as more people are exposed to it and perhaps think its legendary status isn't as deserved as it could have been . Perhaps I too belong to that camp
The reputation means so many people have actually forgotten what the film is about . Slightly patriotic flag waver where the forces of democracy get one over on the vile Nazis , slightly romantic pot boiler , and very much redemption plot it's a film that does have a feelgood factor . The story revolves around Rick , an embittered cynic who is only interested in profiting from the war and as events turn out he's about to discover that there's somethings far more important than money . Everything could have been done a little bit better especially when you consider Michael Curtiz is very much a contender for best film director of the 20th Century who made a lot of differing genre films and was always very good at what he did . His problem was that his films weren't marketed for a bitterly cynical audience in the 21st Century and seem a little bit too old fashioned when seen today . That said the up side is you enjoy classic Hollywood with its emphasis on stardom , dialogue and feel good factor there's a lot to admire in CASABLANCA but you have go in to it with the certain knowledge that it's not quite the masterwork its legendary reputation suggests it is
That is the main problem with Michael Curtiz in general and CASABLANCA in particular . A film like ANGELS WITH DIRTY FACES doesn't contain one single scene or line of dialogue that can be classed as realistic in anyway and a film like that which has lines such as " Okay fellas let's say a prayer for a kid who couldn't run as fast as me " would see pop corn and drinks thrown at the screen in 2014 . You have to meet these classic Hollywood movies on there own terms and sometimes cynicism gets in the way