"FURIOUS 7" (2015) Review

"FURIOUS 7" (2015) Review

Following the success of 2013's "FAST AND FURIOUS 6", I felt sure that the FAST AND FURIOUS movie franchise would finally end. After all, Universal Studios and director Justin Lin had proclaimed the fourth, fifth and sixth films as part of a trilogy. But to my utter surprise, the producers announced their intention for a seventh film by ending "FAST AND FURIOUS 6" on a cliffhanger. 

Anyone who has seen the sixth film knows that Dominic Toretto, Brian O'Conner and their circle of friends had assisted Diplomatic Security Service (DSS) Special Agent Luke Hobbs in taking down mercenary Owen Shaw in exchange for the clearance of their criminal records and finding Dom's lady love, the amnesiac Letty Ortiz. Their actions had left Shaw in a coma and a return to normal life. However, Dom and his friends learn that Shaw's older brother, a rogue special forces assassin named Deckard Shaw, is seeking revenge against the team for what happened to the younger brother. The end of "FAST AND FURIOUS 6" revealed that the older Shaw was responsible for Han-Seoul-Oh's death in Tokyo, which was first seen in the 2006 film, "THE FAST AND THE FURIOUS: TOKYO DRIFT". Next, Shaw nearly kills both Agents Hobbs and Elena Neves in an explosion at the DSS Los Angeles Field Office, leaving Hobbs seriously wounded. After Shaw sends a package that destroys the Toretto home in Los Angeles, a C.I.A. covert team leader named Frank Petty recruits the remaining friends to help him prevent a mercenary named Mose Jakande from obtaining a computer program called the God's Eye that uses digital devices to track specific people, in exchange for allowing them to use the latter to find Shaw first. Unbeknownst to the others, Shaw has allied himself with Jakande to take down Dom, Brian and the others.

I must admit that on paper, "FURIOUS 7" struck me as a first-rate story. Screenwriter Chris Morgan, who has been writing for the franchise since "TOKYO DRIFT", did an excellent job of continuing the story first set up in "FAST AND FURIOUS 4". He even managed to skillfully connect some of the story acrs of the franchise's past films with this latest plot. This was especially the case for Han's death in "TOKYO DRIFT", his romance with Gisele Yashar and friendship with Sean Boswell; Letty's amnesia, which was never resolved in "FAST AND FURIOUS 6"; and, of course, the Shaw brothers. Morgan also did a solid job in utilizing the situation regarding Frank Petty, Mose Jakande and the God's Eye device for the team's search for Deckard Shaw. And although I feel that James Wan lacked Justin Lin's more technical skills as a director, I thought he did a pretty good job in handling a high budget production that was nearly derailed by Paul Walker's death.

One would have to be blind not to notice how beautiful "FURIOUS 7". Then again, that has been the case for the entire franchise since the first movie. One has to thank Stephen F. Windon, who has worked on the film franchise since"TOKYO DRIFT", and Marc Spicer for their colorful and sharp photography. The beauty of their work was especially apparent in the Abu Dhabi sequences. Speaking of Abu Dhabi, it also featured some of the movie's best action scenes. One of them featured a fight between Michelle Rodriguez's Letty Ortiz character and martial artist Ronda Rousey, who portrayed the head of security for an Abu Dhabi billionaire. Another featured an attempt by Dom and Brian to steal the billionaire's car, which contained the God's Eye device. This scene also led to one of the most spectacular stunts I have ever seen on film. In an attempt to escape the billionaire's security team, Dom drives the stolen car through a series of hi-rise buildings that . . . hell, I do not know how to describe this stunt. It has to be seen on the movie screen in order to believe it. 

The movie also featured another over-the-top stunt, in which the team airdrop their cars over the Caucasus Mountains in Azerbaijan, in order to ambush Jakande's convoy and rescue Megan Ramsey, the creator of God's Eye. For some reason, I was not that particularly impressed with this particular stunt. Perhaps it is because I found the sequence a little too frantic and clumsily shot. The best aspect of the Azerbaijan sequence was the fight scene between Brian and one of Jakande's men, a martial artist named Ket. Not surprisingly, the film's producers hired martial artist/actor Tony Jaa to portray Ket. They were also lucky in that Paul Walker had been a martial artist for several years, himself. The pair, along with fight choreographer Jeff Imada, created a first-rate fight scene. They also managed to repeat themselves with another excellent fight scene staged inside an empty building in downtown Los Angeles. Imada also served as the choreographer between the Rodriguez/Rousey fight scene in Abu Dhabi and a surprisingly effective fight between Dwayne Johnson's Luke Hobbs and Jason Statham's Deckard Shaw near the film's beginning. The only fight scene that failed to impressed me occurred between Vin Diesel's Dominic Toretto and Shaw on a downtown L.A. parking structure. If I must be honest, there seemed to be too much testosterone and dialogue, and not enough skillful moves to impress me. It almost seemed as if director James Lin overdid it in his attempt to transform this particular fight into a showstopper. Instead, the fight simply bored me.

However, the Toretto/Shaw fight scene was not the only disappointing aspect of "FURIOUS 7". I had other problems with the movie. Exactly how many years had passed between "FAST AND FURIOUS 6" and "FURIOUS 7"? After watching the 2013 movie, I had assumed that Deckard Shaw had killed Han Seoul-Oh at least a few months after the events of the movie. But in "FAST AND FURIOUS 6", Brian O'Conner and Mia Toretto's son Jack was still an infant. "FURIOUS 7"revealed that young Jack was a toddler between the ages of 2-5 around the time of Han's death. So . . . I am confused. Another problem I had with the film was the dialogue written by Chris Morgan. I might as well be frank. Dialogue has never been a strong point with the FAST AND FURIOUS franchise. But I was surprised that only three characters were forced to spew some of the worst dialogue I had ever heard in the entire movie franchise. And that bad dialogue came out of the mouths of Vin Diesel, Dwayne Johnson and Jason Statham. It seemed as if the three actors were engaged in some kind of verbal testosterone contest to see who is the toughest. No wonder some critics had claimed that the movie's three worst performances came from them. And if this was not bad enough, I had to endure that uber-machofight scene between Diesel and Statham that really unimpressed me. Worse, the movie featured a moment in which the convalescing Agent Hobbs becomes aware of a struggle between Dom's team and the combined Shaw/Jakande alliance inside his hospital room. So, what does he do? Hobbs flexes a muscle, forcing his cast to tear apart. It was one of the most wince-inducing moments I have ever seen on film.

According to the movie's publicists, Universal Studios and the producers had decided not to kill off the Brian O'Conner character, because of actor Paul Walker's death. For that I am utterly grateful. Learning about his death had been difficult enough. I certainly did not want to see the same for his character on screen. However, the public was told that instead of being killed off, Brian's character would retire at the end of the movie. This announcement left me confused. Retire from what? Brian's law enforcement career ended in "FAST AND FURIOUS 4", when he helped Dom Toretto escape from a prison bus. His brief career as a criminal ended, following the successful Rio de Janeiro heist in "FAST FIVE". Brian and the rest of the team's actions in the sixth movie revolved around their search for an amnesiac Letty Ortiz and efforts to get their criminal records cleaned. As for this seventh movie, they were mainly concerned with finding Deckard Shaw before he can kill them all in retaliation for his brother's condition. So, from what exactly was Brian retiring? The producers could have simply stated that Brian, Mia and their son had moved to another city . . . and away from Dom and Letty. How did retirement fit into all of this?

I also had one last problem with "FURIOUS 7" - namely the Roman Pearce character, portrayed by Tyrese Gibson. Ever since his first appearance in 2003's "2 FAST 2 FURIOUS", I have been a fan of Roman and Gibson's portrayal of him. But I have become aware of the franchise's recent portrayal of him as the team's clown. When this happen? Oddly enough, it began with "FAST FIVE" in which the Tej Parker character made a few snarky comments at his expense. In the 2011 film, it was mildly amusing. In "FAST AND FURIOUS 6", it got a little worse. But the Azerbaijan sequence pretty much solidified Roman's role as the team's clown. This sequence nearly made him a dye-in-the-wool coward, when he originally refused to participate in the car jump. What the hell? Roman has always been a verbose, temperamental and impulsive guy. But he was also a very pragmatic man, who always seemed to have a more realistic view of their situations than any of the other characters. This does not mean he was gutless. Why on earth did the franchise decided to make him this embarrassing clown? And why team him with Tej, who always seemed hell bent upon humiliating him? One of the aspects of "2 FAST 2 FURIOUS" I enjoyed so much was that Roman and childhood friend Brian O'Conner had struck me as a well-balanced screen team. Brian never went out of his way to constantly humiliate Roman . . . like Tej. And Roman never treated Brian like some adopted offspring . . . like Dom. But the producers were determined to exploit the original Dom/Brian relationship in the movies, starting with "FAST AND FURIOUS 4". And in order not to leave Roman out of the loop, they teamed him with Tej Parker, whom he first met in the 2003 film. Unfortunately, Tej (through screenwriter Chris Morgan), has transformed poor Roman into a clown.

Clown or not, Roman had the good luck to be portrayed by Tyrese Gibson, whom I believe is one of the better actors in the main cast. Mind you, he is no Kurt Russell, Djimon Hounsou or Elsa , but I still believe he is slightly better than the other actors and actresses in the movie. Speaking of Russell, he gave a dry and witty performance as shadow agent Frank Petty. The actor injected a good deal of sharp wit into a film nearly marred by bad dialogue. As for Hounsou, he made an effective and intelligent villain, capable of thinking on his feet and quickly exploiting a situation or individual. In my review of "FAST AND FURIOUS 6", I had commented on Paul Walker's increasing skill as an actor. This improvement of Walker's acting skills were obvious in scenes that reflected his character Brian O'Conner's struggle to adapt to a family lifestyle, his conversation with wife Mia two-thirds into the film and his reaction to Dom's decision to drive a stolen car through the window of an Abu Dhabi skyscraper. Another memorable performance came from Michelle Rodriguez, who continued her portrayal of Letty Ortiz's struggles to deal with amnesia. This was especially apparent in a scene in which the actress had to convey her character's frustration in facing fleeting memories of the past and Dom's attempts to help her regain her memories. The movie also featured solid performances from Jordana Brewster (who was missing throughout most of the film), Chris Bridges aka Ludicrous, Nathalie Emmanuel, Lucas Black (of "THE FAST AND FURIOUS: TOKYO DRIFT"), Elsa Pataky, Ali Fazal and Tony Jaa. Even Ronda Rousey, despite her lack of acting experience, was appropriately intimidating as the billionaire's head of security. She is no Gina Carrano, who acting managed to improve by "FAST AND FURIOUS 6", but she was effective.

I know what you are thinking. What about Vin Diesel, Dwayne Johnson and Jason Statham? Surely they were not that terrible? All three actors are pretty decent performers. But "FURIOUS 7" did not show them at their best. As I had earlier hinted, all three were hampered by Chris Morgan's machismo dialogue and attempt to raise the testosterone level, via their characters. But each actor had their moments. Diesel's best moments were featured in his scenes with Rodriguez. Johnson's best moments occurred in the film's first half hour, which included his character's fight against the Deckard Shaw character and his playful interactions with Elsa Pataky's Elena Neves. And Statham's best scene in the film, at least for me, was his first. This featured Deckard Shaw's visit to his comatose brother's hospital room, in which he expressed tenderness and family concern for the latter (portrayed by Luke Evans in a cameo appearance). Otherwise, Diesel, Johnson and Statham proved to be problematic for me in so many ways.

I am not saying that "FURIOUS 7" is a terrible movie. It would probably be considered terrible by certain fans and moviegoers, whose tastes in films are a lot more elitist or intellectual. But as action films go, it is pretty decent and a lot of fun to watch. Yes, I found it difficult to endure some of the movie's bad dialogue, the re-imaging of the Roman Pearce's character into a clown and the over-the-top machismo portrayed by Vin Diesel, Dwayne Johnson and Jason Statham. And James Wan does not exactly strike me as skillful a director as Justin Lin. But, I believe "FURIOUS 7" is still a fun-filled action flick and a worthy last film for the late Paul Walker.





R.I.P. Paul Walker (1973-2013)

"THE AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON" (2015) Photo Gallery

Below are images from "THE AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON", the sequel to the 2012 blockbuster hit, "THE AVENGERS". The movie was written and directed by Joss Whedon: 


"THE AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON" (2015) Photo Gallery

"LOST" RETROSPECT: (5.02) "The Lie"

"LOST" RETROSPECT: (5.02) "The Lie"

Season Five of ABC's "LOST" has always struck me as the series' Odd Man Out. It is not the first season to break the rules of the series' format. Season Four not only featured flashbacks, but also flash forwards. But Season Five seemed to be all over the place. And I believe this was due to the cast being split up for the first half of its season. 

Before I talk about the season's second episode, (5.02) "The Lie", I feel I should do a recap of what led to its events. As many of the show's fans know, at least five of the original Oceanic Flight 815 survivors made it off the island. They were Dr. Jack Shephard, Kate Austen, Sayid Jarrah, Sun-Hwa Kwon, and Hugo "Hurley" Reyes. Five others inhabitants also managed to leave - including Claire Littleton's son Aaron, who was born on the island; Desmond Hume, who had been stranded on the island for three years; former Others leader Benjamin Linus, who left around the same time as the Oceanic survivors; Frank Lapidus, an airline pilot who had been hired to join an expedition traveling to the island aboard a freighter called the Kahana; and John Locke, whose later departure would be revealed in details in a future episode. The Season Four finale, (4.12 - 4.14) "There's No Place Like Home", viewers discovered that the original five survivors, Desmond and young Aaron were floating in a Zodiac raft, when they were picked up by a yacht owned by Desmond's love, Penny Widmore. While Desmond and Frank remained aboard Penny's yacht; Jack, Kate, Sayid, Sun, Hurley and young Aaron arrived on Fiji with a cover story about Oceanic 815's crash and how they ended there. They became known as "the Oceanic Six". 

The first half of Season Five seemed to be divided into two major time period. The episodes and scenes featuring the survivors back on the island are set during the time following the Oceanic Six's departure from the island and how they dealt with the various inhabitants they encountered, while flashing back and forth through time. Rather confusing . . . eh? The episodes and scenes featuring the Oceanic Six focused on their lives nearly three years after being off the island and Benjamin Linus' efforts to get them to return. "The Lie" continued the story of the Oceanic Six during the latter period of those three years and the efforts of the island castaways to survive the constant shifts in time, which seemed to have caused a good deal of upheaval for them. 

In this particular episode, Hurley finds himself labeled as a fugitive, when the police blames him for the deaths of two men whom Sayid had killed in the previous episode, (5.01) "Because You Left". With a barely conscious Sayid as his companion, Hurley appears at the Reyes family home and seeks refuge from the police with his parents. During his stay, he reveals to the latter the truth behind the lies concocted by Jack Shephard for the media and Oceanic Airlines. Meanwhile, Jack, who is forced to deal with withdrawal symptoms, and Ben try to round up the other Oceanic Six members and John Locke for their return to the island. According to former Other and island inhabitant, Eloise Hawking, Ben has seventy (70) hours to get them on a plane for the South Pacific. In the previous episode, two men had approached Kate for a blood sample to determine Aaron Littleton's bloodline. Fearful that Aaron might be taken away from her, Kate decides to go on the run with the toddler. However, a visit from Sun-Hwa Kwon prevents her from doing so. And when Kate tells her about the two men, Sun suggests that she takes excessive steps to prevent them from taking Aaron.

"The Lie" also featured the further adventures of those castaways left behind. Unlike those who had managed to leave the island, their story is set two to three years earlier - following Ben Linus and the Oceanic Six's departure. "Because You Left" revealed that when Ben left by turning that Frozen Donkey Wheel inside the DHARMA Orchid Station, those left behind found themselves flashing back and forth through time. In "The Lie", the remaining castaways attempt to start a fire at the old beach camp. Daniel, who had instructed a past Desmond Hume to find Eloise Hawking, join the others before they are attacked by the Others with a barrage of flaming arrows. Fortunately for James "Sawyer" Ford and Juliet Burke, John Locke comes to their rescue before they can be killed.

Wow! That seemed a lot for one particular episode. Was "The Lie" supposed to part of a two-part episode with "Because You Left"? If not, one could easily describe this episode as convoluted. There seemed to be at least three . . . perhaps four story arcs going on. At least a few of the episode's story arcs seemed to relate to its title. Hurley and Sayid's stay at the Reyes home and the former's confession to his mother about the lies Jack had concocted for the media and Oceanic Airlines seemed to be one. I could also say the same about the story arc featuring Kate's anxiety over losing Aaron. And Daniel did fail to tell Sawyer and Juliet that he had instruct the past Desmond to pay a visit to Eloise Hawking. The episode's title seemed to suggest there were consequences in the Oceanic Six's lies about their survival of the Flight 815 crash, their time on the island and return to civilization. But honestly, these consequences only seemed apparent in two story arcs - Hurley's survival guilt and Kate's anxiety over losing Aaron. 

The consequences of Oceanic Six's lies seemed to stem in the episode's flashback aboard Penny Widmore's yacht, where Jack presented the story he planned to tell Oceanic Airlines and the media. There were two very interesting reactions to his revelations. Hurley seemed very reluctant to accept Jack's lies, making it clear that he found them unnecessary. But . . . being Hurley, he caved in from Jack's pressure to accept the false story for them to tell Oceanic Airlines and spent the next three years being haunted by his decision and the lies, until he finally confessed them to his mother. Another interesting reaction to Jack's suggestion came from Kate, who seemed unusually quick to accept it. Did Kate believe that his suggestion enabled her to pretend to be Aaron's mother? This seemed rather surprising to me when"LOST" was still on the air, considering that between the time she helped Claire Littleton give birth to Aaron in (1.20) "Do No Harm" and Oceanic Six's flight from the island in (4.14) "There's No Place Like Home, Part III", Kate had expressed very little interest in Claire or Aaron. Yet, nearly three years later found Kate willing to flee from Los Angeles with Aaron, due to her fear that the courts would have a legal reason to take him away from her. These two story arcs seemed to have the strongest connections to the episode's title. 

However, I had trouble making any connections between the Oceanic Six's lies and the other story arcs. If there were any connections, they struck me as a bit weak - in the case of Ben's visit to Eloise Hawking and the butcher shop that was holding Locke's body, or barely non-existent - the remaining survivors' travails with time traveling. Mind you, I found both story arcs fascinating. Ben's visit with Ms. Hawkings eventually played out in a near future episode. And the story arc surrounding those left behind on the island proved to be action-filled and very exciting. But again, their story arcs seemed to have a stronger connection to the island incidents in "There's No Place Like Home" than the Oceanic Six's lies. Speaking of the latter, I do have to give Horowitz, Kitsis and director Jack Bender for injecting a good deal of mystery regarding the island inhabitants' time traveling experiences, along with both drama and action. I am sure that many viewers were on the edge of their seats over the identities of the castaways' attackers - especially the two uniformed men who tried to kill Sawyer and Juliet.

But the crux of the episode seemed to be all about the climax over Hurley's emotional dilemma over his return to Los Angeles, along with his guilt over leaving behind many of his fellow castaways. I have rather mixed feelings about this particular story arc. On one hand, I thought Hurley's confession to Mrs. Reyes about the island seemed like an emotional payoff of his survivor guilt that first manifested in the flash forward scenes from the Season Four episode, (4.01) "The Beginning of the End". But Horowitz and Kitsis undermined this emotional payoff by having Hurley turning himself in to the authorities, after Ben Linus confronted him about returning to the island. What was the point of that? Ben gave him the opportunity to finally return to the island and put his mind at ease over leaving some of his fellow castaways behind . . . and "poof" . . . he decides to ignore Ben's offer? Even after Ana-Lucia Cortez's ghost had warned him to avoid the police?

There are some who believe that "The Lie" is an unevenly paced episode. Perhaps. I thought the episode featured too many story arcs. And if it was supposed to be the second half of a two-part episode, I wish that show runners Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindehof had not given the two episodes different titles . . . with different themes. Their actions only left me in a conundrum over whether "The Lie" is a two-part episode or not. Regardless, the opening episodes of Season Five struck me as unevenly handled, despite some very memorable scenes and performances, especially from Jorge Garcia.

"THE BLUE DAHLIA" (1946) Review

"THE BLUE DAHLIA" (1946) Review

Sometime during World War II, novelist Raymond Chandler was hired by Paramount Pictures to co-write the 1944 film classic, "DOUBLE INDEMNITY", with writer-director Billy Wilder. Another two years passed before the studio assigned him to write a post-war film noir movie, 1946’s "THE BLUE DAHLIA".

Directed by George Marshall, ”THE BLUE DAHLIA” was about a U.S. Navy pilot, Lieutenant-Commander Johnny Morrison, who returns home to Los Angeles with his buddies and medically discharged crew mates, Buzz Wanchek and George Copeland. Buzz is prone to memory lapses and headaches, and is often short tempered, all likely due to his head wound. Johnny finds his wife Helen living and partying in a hotel bungalow. He also spots her kissing her boyfriend, owner of the Blue Dahlia nightclub, Eddie Harwood. After punching Eddie, Johnny lets Helen know that he is willing to try to salvage their marriage. However, Helen is not willing and she informs him that their son did not die of diptheria as she had written, but from a car accident caused by her when she was drunk. Johnny momentarily threatens her with a gun, but decides she is not worth the trouble. He leaves her, taking a framed photograph of their son. Helen meets both Buzz (who has been searching for Johnny) and Eddie before she is mysteriously shot to death in the stomach.

”THE BLUE DAHLIA” is a pretty solid murder mystery that featured the second of three movies with Alan Ladd and Veronica Lake. Chandler created some very interesting characters, including the smarmy Eddie Harwood, who seemed very adept at seducing married wives like Helen Morrison and hiring others to do his dirty work; Helen Morrison, who seemed like a curious mixture of a bitchy wife and a grieving mother; the solid Johnny Morrison, who manages to radiate an aura of menace when crossed; and the nosy and sharp-tongued hotel detective, “Dad” Newell. But Chandler’s best creation turned out to be Buzz Wanchek, a loyal, Navy veteran with a short temper, dislike of jazz music and a metal plate in his head.

As I had stated earlier, Chandler’s story proved to be pretty solid. His skillful setup of Helen Morrison’s murder made it easy for many of the characters to become suspects. Johnny’s discovery of her affair with Eddie Harwood and their subsequent violent quarrel made him an easy suspect. The script eventually revealed that Helen had discovered that Eddie Harwood was a wanted fugitive sought by the New Jersey cops for the death of a man during a robbery, fifteen years earlier. Johnny also met one Joyce Harwood, Eddie’s estranged wife, who had become weary of her husband’s infidelity. And finally there was Buzz, who had been seen meeting Helen at her hotel’s bar and following her to her bungalow. All of this had been witnessed by “Dad” Newell. I understand that Chandler had intended the mystery to evolve into a message about the difficulties – medical and otherwise – faced by veterans returning home from the war. This message would have been utilized with the revelation of Buzz as Helen’s killer. The movie also featured some brutal fight scenes between Ladd and the actors portraying Eddie Harwood’s thugs. In fact, I have noticed that a good number of brutal fights always seemed to pop up in many of Ladd’s movies. Director George Marshall certainly did justice to the fight scene in ”THE BLUE DAHLIA” that rivaled those found in other Ladd crime dramas.

Unfortunately, ”THE BLUE DAHLIA” had some flaws that prevented it from being better than it could. One, I found Sam Comer and James M. Walters Senior’s set decorations to be pedestrian . . . almost cheap looking. And Lionel Lindon’s uninspiring cinematography did not help. And the movie could have benefited with a better score than the one provided by Victor Young, the same composer who won a posthumous Oscar for 1956’s ”AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS”. And thanks to the U.S. military and the Production Code Administration under Joseph Breen, Chandler was forced to neuter his script by tossing aside the resolution that made Buzz the murderer. Both Chandler and Marshall were forced to dump the crime on another character, in what seemed like a contrived plot twist.

If there is one thing that ”THE BLUE DAHLIA” benefited was from its cast. Chandler had compared Alan Ladd to Warners star, Humphrey Bogart, to the former’s detriment. One, I have no idea why Chandler had even bothered to compare the two actors. Both had their own styles as leading men in a crime drama. Which is probably why both men became Hollywood icons. Ladd certainly gave a top-notch performance as returning veteran Johnny Morrison. His best scenes included one he shared with Doris Dowling that featured the bitter argument and marital breakup of the Morrisons; another with Howard Da Silva, in which Morrison revealed his knowledge of Harwood’s past as a wanted fugitive; and finally the fight scene between Johnny and Harwood’s thugs. Not only did he handle the fight scenes very well, he also proved that he could be a first-rate dramatic performer, who knew how to act in front of a camera.

Ladd received solid support from Veronica Lake, who gave a charming performance as the compassionate and perhaps, slightly manipulative Joyce Harwood, the nightclub owner’s estranged wife. I was very impressed by Doris Dowling’s portrayal of the morally conflicted Helen Morrison. Not only did she convey the woman’s bitchy personality with great effect, but also her lingering grief over her son’s death. Howard Da Silva was superb as nightclub owner Eddie Harwood. The actor did justice to Chandler’s portrayal of a man ruthless enough to deal with any threat to his livelihood, yet compassionate enough to feel remorse over his killing of an innocent man during a bank robbery. And character actor Will Wright gave a humorous and complex portrayal of the nosy and slimy house detective, “Dad” Newell. Hugh Beaumont gave a solid performance as one of Johnny’s friends, the level-headed and dependable George Copeland; but his portrayal did not exactly set me on fire. On the other hand, William Bendix’s portrayal of a slightly disturbed Buzz Wanchek did. His performance struck me as funny, caustic and a bit frightening at times. He was very effective in conveying the aftereffects of a man who had not only been trained to kill, but whose war wound (which resulted in a metal plate in the head) led him to suffer from a great deal of mental stress.

Do not get me wrong. I enjoyed ”THE BLUE DAHLIA”. Chandler’s mystery struck me as solid and well written. And the movie benefited from a strong cast led by Alan Ladd. But it lacked any production values – set decorations, photography and score – that struck me as impressive. And in the end, the movie’s finale was undermined by censorship from the U.S. military and the local censor board. But I can honestly say that it is worth viewing.

"MAGIC CITY" Season One (2012) Photo Gallery

Below are images from Season One of the STARZ cable series, "MAGIC CITY". Created by Mitch Glazer, the series stars Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Olga Kurylenko and Danny Huston: 


"MAGIC CITY" SEASON ONE (2012) Photo Gallery