On S List of Movie Reviews

(For optimum viewing, adjust the zoom level of your browser to 125%.)


Sweet Smell of Success (1957)

Rate: 8
Viewed: 1/12, 6/24

SweetSm
1/12: Sweet Smell of Success is a well-made film with superior acting from the ensemble cast and great writing which can be over the top at times.

However, the whole thing doesn't work. I'm constantly forced to keep up with the events and the dialogue so I can try to get it. At the end, having thought about what had transpired, I must say it's been a waste of time. Life is way more than that.

All in all, no matter how I feel about Sweet Smell of Success, it's a good movie with excellent performances by Tony Curtis and Burt Lancaster.

6/24: Trying Sweet Smell of Success again, it's just not for me.

Why is that? The script doesn't work. The way Sidney Falco and J.J. Hunsecker converse is bizarre and makes no sense. Nobody ever talked like that back then. After thirty minutes or so, the dialogue becomes better, but some of the lines remain silly such as: "Harvey, I often wish I were deaf and wore a hearing aid. With a simple flick of a switch, I could shut out the greedy murmur of little men," "Sidney, conjugate me a verb. For instance, 'to promise,'" and "The brains may be Jersey City, but the clothes are Trainor-Norell." Yeah, okay...whatever.

All of the characters are unlikeable. What do I care if a girl is controlled by her brother who happens to be a powerful columnist? Regardless, Tony Curtis gives the best performance of his career. Burt Lancaster is fine but isn't shown that much. His character is obviously based on Walter Winchell, a stupid, idiot man who died like an alcoholic loser after making it the mission of his life to ruin as many people as he could.

At least, James Wong Howe's location photography of New York City is excellent. It's certainly film noir that paints a dog-eat-dog world. However, the movie was a box-office failure; people just didn't like it, and I can see why.

All in all, I won't say Sweet Smell of Success is overrated, but it's a silly movie for the most part.