Smashing indeed...

Rating: Null/10 (24 April 2004)

There are times when the world seems to be in chaos. Homes are no longer homes but a certainty of doom. Where better to go than Casablanca where the party is. That's right all the French, Germans, and refugees travel to this hot spot in order to break away from the war and into the slice of life called United States. Now the sad thing is people here are cheap. Any minute they can get taken away and found guilty of a bogus crime. Well, what is there left to do? Go to Rick's All-American Night Club. Though trouble is brewing as Rick (Humphrey Bogart) runs into an old love Ilsa (Ingrid Bergman), with many others plot spins thrown into the mix.
At the time this film came out it was current events. Well, sort of cause after it was released into theaters the Germans invaded Casablanca. Rick's bar was quite a novel place surrounded by crazy foreign stuff. Funny how most people want to go to Rick's as opposed to any of the other bars? This is sue to the fact of `anything American' is the best thing in the world. Take for example McDonalds; since they have gone overseas people treat the store as a high ritzy spot.
Rick's past is sort of a mystery. He was kicked out of the U.S., lived in France, and is now in Casablanca. He doesn't stick his neck out for anyone, but things start to change as his old mistress comes to Casablanca with her husband Laszlo (Paul Henreid) trying to escape to the U.S.
This is a love story that came out shortly after radio stations were regularly broadcasting. Which means there was more put into the dialogue than in the effects. It did not take away from the experience, but recent generations will most likely find this style too out dated.
Recommendations: Yes to people who know how to enjoy a real movie, and not something like `the Fast and the Furious.'