Review of In the Heat of the Night (1967) by Josh M — 21 Jul 2009

Ultimately a piece very much of its time, In the Heat of the Night holds up as a compelling and interesting murder mystery, but not as much as a great film. It's not that the film is bad in any way; Steiger's performance is a lot of fun, bringing unexpected depth and thoughtfulness in a quiet way (the man says more with each smack of gum than a lot of actors say in whole speeches), and I was pleasantly surprised to find Poitier's character to have more depth and complexity than "noble black man".

And yet, while I can appreciate the historic nature of the film, and the issues it took on, placing the film in a modern context robs it of some of that power, especially since similar ground has been covered so many times since.

Of course, it also doesn't help that, despite how intriguing the case is, the ultimate resolution feels a little arbitrary. It's still a great police story, one with some great performances (and anything with Warren Oates can't be all bad), but its greatness comes more from the time it was made and less from the film itself.