Very good...but no classic

Rating: 8/10 (25 November 2007)

This takes place in the town of Casablanca in Morocco. During the war hundreds of Americans were kept there trying to get VISAs or letters of transit to get to Lisbon and out of Europe. Rick Blaine (Humphrey Bogart) runs a cafe in Casablanca and gets two stolen letters of transit. Then an ex love Ilsa (Ingrid Bergman) arrives there with her husband Victor (Paul Henreid). They need the letters to escape from the Nazis who are slowly getting in...but will Rick give them up?
This movie is well made, beautifully directed and has some of the most quotable lines in movie history--"I stick my neck out for nobody"; "Play it Sam" (NOT play it again Sam); "The Germans wore gray, you wore blue"; "We'll always have Paris"; "Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world, she walks into mine"; "Here's looking at you kid"; "Round up the usual suspects" and "Louie, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship". We also have Dooley Wilson playing and singing the haunting "As Time Goes By". The acting is superb across the board right down to the supporting performances-- Peter Lorre, Sydney Greenstreet and Claude Rains are at their best.
BUT I find the story somewhat confusing and there are some huge loopholes if you examine the movie closely. People who love this film just say that they're a small price to pay because everything else is so good...but they bothered me. I'm giving it an 8 and I recommend it but I don't think it's one of the best movies ever made.