Review of Get Carter (1971) by Richard C — 13 Apr 2007

If you were to ask people to choose their favourite Michael Caine film most would probably pick his more popular titles like The Italian Job or Zulu. This, in my opinion, is a shame because undoubtedly his best performance was delivered as Jack Carter, the underworld heavy who delivered his sarcastic one-liners as hard as his punches.

Set amongst the working class population of the industrial North, Carter returns to his hometown to find out who killed his brother. As he probes deeper he begins to entangled in a dark family secret and encounters a number of unsavory characters along the way.

Get Carter is probably one of my all-time favourite British films, with everything from the opening bars of Roy Budd's jazz-lounge score to the "gritty" plot clicking into place with ease. If you are looking for a solid, low-key thriller then I highly recommend this.