Review of On the Waterfront (1954) by John E — 01 Mar 2011

Wow! A movie where Brando had to work! The effort shows!! It's hard to remember that he once wasn't world-famous and couldn't behave like a pettish child!! He and his supporting cast do a nice job with the down-to-earth screenplay that adroitly gives the audience a fleeting glimpse into the simultaneously honest and dishonest world of organized labor and its mob ties.

The romance just doesn't make sense though, I'm sorry. That keeps it from attaining true verisimilitude. Edie sure gets over being emotional at her brother's death awfully fast. True, she's a strong woman who uses her grief to fuel her campaign against the gangsters, but her hooking up with Brando strains credulity.

Also, when Brando gets sad, his eyebrows bothered me. He looked like a sad clown. The eyebrows are a semi-jocular complaint, but the romance I ultimately couldn't swallow. I just had to for the movie's sake.

I wish more people would give Karl Malden credit. His performances are always tremendous. Kazan rightly won lots of Oscars for this movie; I just wish he hadn't tacked on that Hollywood romance element.