Casablanca
A simple review by M. Pierce
In one of my many videos I have attained from the local library, Casablanca was my third classic in some weeks. The others being Citizen Kane and Vertigo (yes, I am trying to see as many of AFI's Greatest Movies Ever Made as I can). But, Casablanca stood out from the rest for me: It was actually watchable.
What most hail as the greatest American film ever, Casablanca isn't so much a love story as a political frenzy with a love triangle thrown in. It seems that star Humphry Bogart spend about 85 percent of the movie with various leaders of the nation instead of with Ingred Bergman. That annoyed me, as did the ending. Why didn't the plan turn around?!?
Surprisingly, I enjoyed the film. I liked Bogart's character and his acting (not over the top as most actors in his era). I once read about if you had a choice to be in a movie, which one would it be, and a women said Casablanca. At first I was thinking to myself "why?" Then, as I watched the film again, I understood why. The movie is very well done and the script top-notch, although I doubt I understood more than half of the political mumbo jumbo.
Casablanca is, in my mind, no classic (like Solaris), but it is a good film and stylishly shot. Hey, Hollywood, how about this: A remake with Harrison Ford and Anne Heche? Now that would be a classic.
*** (out of ****)
1999 (c)
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