Review of Dirty Harry (1971) by John M — 22 Apr 2015

The secret to Dirty Harry's success is in the most famous part of the movies most famous quote. "Do you feel lucky?" Typically in cop dramas the good guy and bad guy take turns being in control of the situation and driving the plot forward. In Dirty Harry both the good guy and bad guy are imperfect. Both seem to stumble through the conflict. The sniper stumbles through the action scenes, while Harry stumbles because of his responsibilities as a police officer.

The film begins in typical fashion with a sniper on a roof. His second attempt he gets spotted by a helicopter. That's when we know we're not in for a connect-the-dots kind of cop drama. The crime spree ends before it begins, and the rest of the movie is about what other action movies would sum up in the last 10 minutes. The villain is shamelessly wicked and very unusual. At times it has the atmosphere and musical score of a sleazy early 80's slasher movie.

Harry is imperfect because he's an old school kind of cop with old school methods and he has a dark sense of humor that comes off as politically incorrect to people who don't him. Catching the criminal isn't the problem. The problem is bringing him to justice within the limitations of the law. Harry allows the black man at the beginning to be "lucky" because Harry knows the justice system will take care of him, but with the sniper justice isn't guaranteed. The word "lucky" is so significant because through the whole movie that's what the sniper used as a weapon. Luck saved him from harry each time. Luck got him off the hook because of a technicality. But ultimately, the snipers luck had no power over Dirty Harry Callahan.