#31 - White Heat

I really need to catch up with my viewing. I'm writing as much as I can, but if you have read the comments from the Raging Bull review, this movie was mentioned. That marks the second time that someone has made a comment on a review and referenced or referred to a movie that I have watched, but not yet reviewed. I don't know about you, but I think that's lame. Rest assured, I am working on it. I am now down to about twenty reviews to catch up to my viewing. But still, I watch!! I watched a real piece of turd tonight, but that's for another time. Right now we talk about White Heat.

I loved this movie!!! It is so intense, so raw, so rough, so in your face, and so unbelievably captivating. James Cagney is built like an insane brick wall. If you ever meet a guy like his character, DON'T PISS HIM OFF!!! Some of the looks he gives are absolutely priceless. The scene in prison when he finds out who tried to kill him and then talk to the guy is great. He gives this guy a smile that says, "Hey, accidents happen. Okay buddy?" But at the same time it says, "Your not gonna live very long." It was mean, it was cold, it was crazy, it was fantastic to see.

Since it was commented on earlier, I feel compelled to discuss the females in this movie. They're no good dirty dames!!! Well, the mother isn't exactly a dame, but she's no good. She is the fuel for Cagney's insanity, but also the only one who can keep him in check. Interesting dynamic. Not quite Oedipal, but still not exactly the same thread as Ozzie and Harriet. Virginia Mayo is the no good, dirty, double crossing dame. She sneaks around behind his back, he treats her like crap, she's no angel, he's pure sinner. Good times. Interesting dynamic here too since she is dating a psycho mamma's boy, but she isn't exactly the kind of girl you'd take home to mother.

It was refreshing to see a movie that wasn't dumbed down for an audience. Throughout this film I was thinking about what they would have done were they to make this movie today. The answer would have been that they would have ruined it. The shining example of this is towards the end of the film. There is the driver of the truck who is the only man who could identify the undercover cop in Cagneys' gang. You know this as soon as you see the guy, they don't beat you over the head with it and make a big deal about all the close calls they have. It plays natural. The tension is already built in. And your right there with them until the end. And what an end. Classic. Watch this movie.