Review of To Have and Have Not (1945) by Brad V — 07 Jun 2008
All right. This was pretty good. This is a story much like Casablanca. Bogart is an American in a foreign land during World War II and there's a girl he loves that he tries to ship back to the US. I've never heard of a critic calling this better than Casablanca so I probably need to rewatch that particular film as I no longer have the flu. I found this movie's plot to be rather engaging and quite interesting.
The acting in here was top-notch as well. You know you can't go wrong with Bogart, and you don't. He's his usual self. He's still not The Maltese Falcon or The African Queen good, but he's still quite good. Of the three films I've seen so far, this is easily Lauren Bacall's best performance. This is her film debut and what a debut it is. She gives a very good performance. Lastly, while not a star, perhaps my favorite actor in this was Walter Brennan. He's basically just a drunk, but he does a great job at it and you really get to like his character quite a bit.
As I previously mentioned, this film borrows some ideas from Casablanca. It's set in another continent and quite different, but the similarities are there. Bogart is an American mixed up in a foreign land during War. He spends most of his time at a drinking establishment and there's a reasonably important character who plays a piano. Since this movie came out a couple of years after Casablanca and has so many similarities I'll have to deduct a few points, but that doesn't mean this film isn't quite good nonetheless.
85/100.
B.
UP NEXT: The final, and most well-regarded, Bogart and Bacall movie - The Big Sleep.
This review of To Have and Have Not (1945) was written by Brad V on 07 Jun 2008.
To Have and Have Not has generally received very positive reviews.
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