When did overacting become art?

Rating: 5/10 (24 February 2002)

I thought the book was overdone and corny when I read it in 71; and I thought the movie was overacted and bordered on fantasy when I saw it in 72.
Having spent 22 years in a major city's police department, I had occasion to deal with these mob types now and again. They are nothing like those portrayed in the film. They are hollow shells of men who somehow know their bravado is a sham.
There are some good action scenes in the picture, but I find the constant atmosphere of universal admiration of thuggery to be aimed at the juvenile patron.