Boy... was I disappointed to the point of mad

Rating: 3/10 (29 May 2005)

This movie, frankly, does not deserve its high ranking.
The plot, such as it is, is that Rick is trying to run a cafe in Casablanca, refugee zone, where Victor Laslo and his spouse Ilsa, a former lover of Rick, show up during World War 2. Victor must get out, but Rick, who has accidentally gotten some papers of transit (which are widely known to be a nonsense concept in reality) Somehow, Victor's got to get those papers, and we're supposed to be entertained by a lot of people just standing around trying to be witty, and often (except Claude Rains a few times) falling flat on their face.
This has got to be the worst possible way to approach a story about World War Two. It's about a LOVE STORy, and, of course, a Hollywood type where affairs are justified so long as the parties are attractive enough. No real explorations into what was going on at the time are made, and frankly, the "All Nazis Are Bad, But We Allies Can't Help But Be Good." stance frankly was old by then: it's TRIUMPH OF THE WILL reversed only not as well made. I mean, yes the Nazi Party was the most blatantly evil in existence (maybe the Japanese one was as bad if you study what happened in China) but that doesn't mean every nazi was ready to shoot at a moment's notice, and not every officer a more arrogant version of Colonel Klink.
Wrapping up: This movie is obsolete trash not worthy of your time.