Review of Sunset Boulevard (1950) by Allen B — 26 Sep 2010

An interesting, rather demented film full of unique twists on the "noir" genre, though a bit overrated. It plays with expectations, often blurring the line between reality and fiction in ways I don't think could be replicated quite as well today. It's also quite heartbreaking at times, and the ending is like something out of a horror film.

I also really enjoyed the masculine nature of it all. It's a tough, manly film, despite ultimately being about a woman's deteriorating psychological state. Not sure how they did this exactly, but everything from the tough as nails narrative to the dark subject matter screams of a film written by some truly manly men. It's quite odd.

The acting is a bit hit and miss. Though I liked the actress character, she was very hammy and over the top at times. I guess this was the point, but in this day and age, it strained believability. Maybe it did then too, because none of the other actors chew the scenery quite as much as she does. I don't know, I didn't like it. She was good, don't get me wrong, she just over did it.

Overall, yeah, a pretty good film, though I question whether it's truly the classic it's since become. The story is very unique, and what they end up doing with it all must have taken a lot of guts back in the day. Even today, I doubt a movie like this could be released without generating some kind of controversy. Worth watching.