sheer perfect cinema

Rating: 10/10 (19 September 2017)

This is a stunningly good looking movie with the dialogue, almost seeming improvised, also of a very high order. The early shots, especially, the night scenes with neon reflected in puddles and viewed through the rear view mirror of the taxi, take the breath away. There is a beauty in the accumulated sleaze and it is ironic that DeNiro should speak of it with such disgust. But speak of it so well does he that we are caught between the two realities. That this seeming nobody could charm the sparkling Cybill Shepherd is at once unbelievable and believable. DeNiro plays these early scenes so well. I realise the writing is near perfect but even so it is stretching a point the ease with which his seduction proceeds and although we are on his side, we can barely believe our/his luck. As the film proceeds and we begin to realise just how mixed up or even psychotic the guy is we still cannot shake a liking for the character. All of this is helped enormously by the incredibly beautiful score by Bernard Herrmann and there are times when the visuals, the music and DeNiro's monologues combine to achieve sheer perfect cinema.