Film 40

Get Carter (1971)

Director: Mike Hodges

Has Fentablar seen this before?: No.

Get Carter was a very cool film and oddly refreshing, considering it is nearly 35 years old. Why? Because, while it does have some cliche elements, those elements are fairly mild and in every other way, this film's hero is different than the heroes we are bombarded with in today's cinema. The biggest difference is that Jack Carter dies in the end. I mean, come on - you just don't see that with the "ass-kicking" hero types in most action genre films.

Speaking of which, Michael Caine's performance as Jack Carter seemed almost like a tough-man's James Bond - no gadgets, no big explosions, just good old-fashioned information gathering and ass-kicking. But he's still not a good guy - if you get in his way, no matter who you are, he will make you get out of his way. In one scene, he goes to a house believing it is the house of a man he's looking for. He's mistaken, and the owner is outraged that he came to the house at such a late hour, and demanded to know why. Carter tells him that he has made a simple mistake, and that the owner shouldn't tangle with him. The owner persists, and Carter gives him a "2-piece" and walks out. In the words of Chris Farley - "that was awesome".

Ratings (scale of 1 to 5):

Plot Effectiveness: /5. Wonderful, all the way through - including the aforementioned ending.

Cinematography/Shot Selection: /5. This element stayed true to the film's mood - it didn't try to overdo itself the way so many action films do, yet it was certainly not done without any care.

Overall Acting: /5. Michael Cain alone makes this category a 5, though the other players did well to their own accord.

Score/Soundtrack: /5. Again, thematics is the key in this category.

OVERALL RATING: /5

~Fentablar~