Review of Get Carter (1971) by Christopher W — 03 Sep 2007

This film is hailed by many as one of the great British films of all time. Celebrated as an absolute classic and some even say is one of the best films of all time. But I gotta say, in all honesty, I didn't care for it all that much.

Now first of all let me start off by saying I can understand where the lovers of this film are coming from. Undoubtedly this is one of the most influential and borrowed from films of all time. I saw countless things in this film that from then on we have seen in tons of films. This was a blue-print for a lot of the films we now celebrate as great. But the truth of the matter is, and this is a sad thing indeed, the very fact that this was the blue-print and one of the "original" films of it's kind goes very much against it. Because we have seen things in this movie done so many times in various other movies proceeding it, and in more exaggerated and extravagant ways I might add, this seems very underwhelming and, for me at least, at various points quite bland and boring. Now I understand that this is no fault of the films or the people who made, I just am simply pointing out that that's how the film seems now.

I am also sad to say that this film has not aged well at all. I understand at the time, when we hadn't seen much like it, that it was unique and great to watch. The violence, dialogue and even some of acting is very dated now, almost to the point of distraction or even being funny. A lot of old films, some almost double the age of this, are still as fresh and unique seeming as the day they were made. But some, like Get Carter, unfortunately don't accomplish this feat and just end up feeling dated. There are those who can put that glaring fact to one side and appreciate it for it's time. And normally I would try to do this too. But just this film in particular I wasn't able to and I ended up not caring for it much, at least on an enjoyment level.

However I am rating it as highly as I am because of the fact that it is one of the true originals of it's type. Michael Caine is one of the great actors of all time, even if he acts similarly in a lot of films, and his performance here , although not as exceptional as I was told it would be, still very overbearing and charismatic.

Yet again expectations and reputation of a film has gotten the better of it and me. I was told this was completely exceptional and it turned out, at least for me anyway, to be pretty underwhelming.