Great

Rating: Null/10 (26 February 2008)

Casablanca (1942)
**** (out of 4)
Michael Curtiz's all-time classic about a war-torn city, a local bar owner (Humphrey Bogart) and his former love (Ingrid Bergman). There's really nothing new I can add to this film because it's certainly one of the greatest classics to come out of Hollywood but on a personal level, I enjoy The Treasure of the Sierra Madre more in the Bogart canon. I know a lot of people feel Bogart was just an image and not really an actor but I've never bought into this theory. Sure, he once again plays a tough guy here but the flashback sequence shows another side of him as does the smaller moments between he and Claude Rains. Bergman is very good in her role but I feel she's the weakest character in the film. It's not that she's bad but I feel the supporting players are a lot better here. You've got Rains, Peter Lorre, Paul Henreid, Conrad Veidt, Sydney Greenstreet and of course Dooley Wilson. While this film wouldn't make my #1 movie I might put it down as having the greatest dialogue of any film made.