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| Notes | This gritty 1971 mobster movie shows up on all the lists as a classic. Michael Caine wanted to create a more realistic, dirtier portrayal of UK crime. In the 60s, many of the movies were more James Bond glamour and glitz. Michael Caine gives us a casually sadistic, amoral mobster. The movie shows a grim UK of lurid detail: poverty, industry, sad clothes, cockney accents, bingo halls, strippers, drunks, filthy pollution - and those were the highlights. The music score is minimal to non-existent. The whole movie casually strolls the viewer from depression, to cruelty, to callous apathy. I can see why people think it is a good movie, but it isn't an enjoyable one. |