2005 one of the best

Rating: 9/10 (17 December 2005)

This movie is one of the best of the year. It has an organic wholeness about it that is very unusual for a flick. The dialog is extremely important and it's best to pay close attention to what everyone is saying. Shooting the thing in black and white was a brilliant move and certainly gives one a feeling for the times ( the 1950s). Another astounding thing is the smoking of cigarettes, one can almost smell tobacco in the theater, and I would not be surprised if everyone in that era died from lung cancer. There is one unusual scene involving Liberace. (for those of you unfamiliar with him a popular closeted piano player in the 50 and 60s). I guess the footage involving him was taken directly from the TV show that Edward R. Murrow hosted where he visited celebrity homes. The clip they chose to use is Liberace answering a question about if he was going to get married. With the benefit of hindsight, the answer is almost high camp. But why the producer/director wanted that in the film, i do not understand. I barely remember Murrow and that TV show, but it seems to me he did a segment with Jack and Jacquline Kennedy, which I think would have been more appropriate. Anyway, if you have the maturation level for this one, it is not meant for teenagers, this is a movie that will be talked about 50 years from now. The use of jazz to tie together the different scenes was also very effective. This is a true classic.