Film in 1990: The Blockbuster Crime Flick "Dick Tracy" Was an Innovative Adaptation of the Comic Strip From 1930s
Dick Tracy Trailer
One of the bad guys
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Story
Back in the day they released Dick Tracy, and I went along for some reason. I quite enjoyed it. Yet what is it like from a critical perspective?
First, the plot. What’s the gist? Dick Tracy is, basically, about organized crime and emboldened detective Tracy is onto it like a bolt while The Kid (Charlie Korsmo) is an orphan that detective Dick Tracy picks up on a job and takes under his wing.
Review
Warren Beatty’s movie is a stylish film version of the Dick Tracy comic strip from the 1930’s which is about the detective Dick Tracy facing off the underworld of criminal characters.
Making up the criminal element
Criminal’s names are monochrome as in Big Boy, Flat Face etc. The film features hardened criminals whose clothes fit the times, and so do their noses, which are bent out of shape.
Distortion and facial peculiarity are taken to a new dimension in this film. They come with the most inventive botox of the year, which went on to win the Oscar for best make-up.
Dicky Tracy (right; played by Warren Beatty)
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You may know Al Pacino from his charismatic style of performance, but you’ll have to look close to see him underneath a sheet of plastered ugliness as Big Boy Caprice, a criminal mastermind. Big Boy throws his weight around as the other colourfully attired gangsters oblige and brings his boys on board in what he says is their quest to be the top dogs in the city. But we know who’s got the ego here. All the same, a solid, reliable hero in Dick Tracy (Warren Beatty) who fights back while Madonna as nightclub singer Breathless Mahoney seems to be going through the motions.
Dick Tracy is an artfully made matinee style blockbuster and utilizes the framing style of comic strips in many scenes. Art director and cinematographer give the look of the film a winning ambiance. Dick Tracy is innovatively done and should please audiences whose sensibilities the film suits despite its moments of violence, but though it has all the above-mentioned merits, for this reviewer it is weighed under and too cartoonish, especially how it all ends.
Christian Perspective
Even so, there are some god qualities here from a Christian perspective. Though there are scenes of heavy cartoonish violence and sexual references, Dick Tracy and his girlfriend don’t live together and have contemplated getting married and when Tracy is tempted by singer Breathless Mahoney, he knows to resist. There is no swearing and sex and the main theme is top notch, it’s about love and duty.
Note
It is interesting that in its year Dick Tracy won three technical Oscars, but Dances with Wolves won Best Picture and many of the other awards. The Oscars were giving Dick Tracy some sort of recognition, but with the values that Dick Tracy espoused, it might not have been nominated for the more important awards, but the top awards went to a film more liberal in content. Politics aside, Dances with Wolves was simply better—and more “important” in tone and execution.
Cast
Warren Beatty, Madonna, Al Pacino, Glenne Headley, Dustin Hoffman, James Caan, Dick Van Dyke, Charlie Korsmo, Charles Durning, Mandy Patinkin, Paul Sorvino. Screenplay: Jim Cash and Jack Epps Jr. based on characters created by Chester Gould. Music: Danny Elfman. Songs by Stephen Sondheim. Sound: Dennis Drummond. Photography: Vittorio Storaro. Production Designer: Richard Sylbert. Costumes: Melina Canonero. Special character makeup: John Caglione Jr. and Doug Drexler. Director and Producer: Warren Beatty.
© 2023 Peter Veugelaers
