Review of Get Carter (1971) by Marcus W — 10 Mar 2010

I saw Get Carter a few years ago, and liked it a lot; on a second viewing, it became an all-time favorite. The first half of Get Carter is a blast, through and through; it's a classic crime film in the style of so much 60s noir, done with verve, humor, and pure cool.

Yet, even early on, there are hints of something darker to come. Look, for instance, at how the film handles the funeral sequence with unexpected gravity and somberness, or the melancholy way Caine deals with his niece, or even the grim tones of the opening scene.

Those are hints, of course, but as the film develops, what was once a fun movie about a very hard man taking revenge becomes a very brutal and bleak film about a hard man taking revenge, and we start to realize that we're getting what we wanted, and it isn't much fun at all.

There's no way to talk about the success of the film without talking about Michael Caine's performance; even with all of Caine's charisma, his Carter is an icy, hateful bastard, one whose seething hatred for almost everyone in the world (except his niece) becomes more and more palpable as the film progresses.

(Yes, I'm including his brother among the hated; even though Frank's death motivates the film's plot, Caine seems motivated out of personal insult than familial love.) And when everything becomes clear 2/3 of the way through the film, and we realize exactly who our "hero" is, the film becomes a fantastic response to the light, slick tone of so much contemporary noir.

It's an absolute masterpiece, perfectly paced and anchored by Caine's galvanizing, intense performance.