Rijndri Load of rubbish!!

MusicChat It's complicated... I really like the directing, acting and writing but, there are issues with the way it's shot that I just can't deny. As much as I love the storytelling and the fantastic performance but, there are also certain scenes that didn't need to exist.

Forumrxes Yo, there's no way for me to review this film without saying, take your *insert ethnicity + "ass" here* to see this film,like now. You have to see it in order to know what you're really messing with.

Lollivan It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

gavin6942 James "Brick" Davis (James Cagney) is a street-wise New York City lawyer who decides to join the US Department of Justice and become a G-Man after his friend Eddie Buchanan (Regis Toomey), also a G-Man, is gunned down by mobsters.The concept that Davis had his law school tuition paid for by a guy "in the rackets" is clever, and as soon as he gets accepted by the FBI, he tells the guy about it. Even more surprising, the guy supports this decision, despite knowing that would make him and his associates a target. Such an odd relationship.The people behind the film sought the FBI's approval, particularly since they were fictionalizing real events. After the acceptance by J. Edgar Hoover, the partnership lead to the new beginning being tacked on in 1949 for the FBI's 25th anniversary. Today, the film is rarely (if ever) seen without the bonus segment.Because of its basis in real life, crime buffs will enjoy what they see and see it coming before the rest of the audience. At one point, rackets boss Mac (William Harrigan) plans to retire and start an inn in northern Wisconsin. The crime fans will see a veiled reference to the April 1934 shootout at Little Bohemia between Dillinger and the FBI, and this foreshadowing comes to fruition... (Harrigan, incidentally, was not a prolific actor and had last appeared on screen two years prior in "The Invisible Man".)This is classic Cagney. It may not be anything like what the real FBI was like in the 1930s (or 1920s, as the case may be). But it has Cagney being his punchy little self, this time on the side of the good guys. (Apparently Cagney wanted to be a "polished gentleman", but the studio wanted him to be a "mug" more like his role in "Public Enemy", and this was probably wise on the studio's part.)Professor Richard Jewell provides commentary on the DVD. He may not be the most eloquent speaker, but he is quite informed and knowledgeable in general. He could be more informed about the Kansas City Massacre, though.

tomgillespie2002 Lawyer Brick Davis (James Cagney) is a fresh-out-of-school law graduate with no clients. When his old friend Eddie Buchanan (Regis Toomey) stops in town, he approaches Davis to become a 'G Man' - a member of a newly formed federal force that uses brains combined with brawn to make the perfect law enforcement. Davis isn't interested, but when Buchanan is shot dead by a gang of organised thugs, he joins up instantly, and begins to distance himself with his criminal clients. Upon arrival at the FBI recruitment centre, he knocks heads with his newly-appointed mentor Jeff McCord (Robert Armstrong) who dislikes the amount of law graduates they are getting. When the gang that Davis left behind start to cause mayhem on a federal scale, Davis uses his knowledge and experience to bring the gang to justice.With all the Pre-Code mayhem that was taking over the cinemas back in the 1930's, people began worrying about the flattering, anti-hero portrayals that the criminal underworld were getting. Films such as the 1932 version of Scarface, and The Public Enemy (also starring Cagney) both showed them in a flattering light, so G-Men wanted to make the law cool again. Cagney's Brick Davis is very much like the villains portrayed in these films - he's ambitious, tough, intelligent - but he's also moral. The criminals, however, are portrayed as pure scum, and (in a quite shocking scene) capable of killing women without thinking twice. More of an FBI propaganda film than a film noir or a crime film, but it's easily watchable. Yet apart from a couple of bloody good shootouts and the odd surprise, the film never really grips and it does lack the usual bite from Cagney.www.the-wrath-of-blog.blogspot.com

jc-osms Of course Cagney's best parts in the 30's and 40's were his trademark gangster roles - think "Public Enemy", "Angels With Dirty Faces" and "White Heat" but here he gets to cross the road and do-good as a bored would-be lawyer turned hard-bitten FBI man in this brisk actioner on the trail of the gang who murder his best friend, who just happens to be an FBI man trying to recruit Cagney into the ranks! Obviously derived from a pulp fiction source (besides the above, the plot has still more twists and turns than a roller-coaster, it takes someone like Cagney to drive it along as you suspend disbelief at the fantastical coincidences that happen along the way. I quite liked the direction of the piece, remembering this is quite an early "talkie", for example there's a nice car chase montage, some nice fast - panning camera shots and a concentration on forensic techniques someway ahead of its time, all told in fact, the director keeps the pace up throughout, with some mild interjections of humour between the numerous shoot-ups which seem to occur every few minutes. There is some poor editing-in though, of some stunts early in the piece as Cagney goes through his physical training. The rest of the cast give mixed performances, the dancer that Cagney leaves behind (but who ends up dead as the unwilling moll of the villain who kills Cagney's mate - see what I mean about the fantastical plot-line) acts far better and seems a better catch than the straight-laced almost glum girl he actually does get! Also Cagney's old mobster-boss gets bumped off accidentally as the G-Men storm the gangsters' lair and before he expires, delivers an excruciatingly bad death-scene. To go on in this way would be slightly cruel as the film is clearly a star vehicle for Cagney and doesn't he know it. The version I watched incidentally has a late 1940's Warner Brothers introduction by actors playing real FBI men, effectively laying claim to the movie as a recruitment driver although interestingly the FBI isn't, to the best of my recollection, formally named in the whole film.

atlmkt Super Cagney vehicle. Fast paced, terrific acting, gripping story line, Cagney as compelling as ever. The movie was an enormous hit in its day and boosted the FBI in the public mind. It started the movie trend for looking at things from the lawman's side instead of the crooks and Cagney, Raft, Edward G, and all the tough guys suddenly became cops. In the next two years there were 60 movies made along these lines showing the lawmen at work. It was a big boost for Cagney's career as there had been some negative feedback on his always playing the bad guy and this movie opened new doors for him. Hard to understand the reviewer that thought it was corny with old cars etc, this was made in 1934 about the those times, what would he expect, ridiculous comment he should stick to new stuff as he clearly doesn't appreciate the old gems.. Acting, script, direction, this is all first rate. Mike L