Cubussoli Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

Matialth Good concept, poorly executed.

Dynamixor The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

Scarlet The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

Kirpianuscus Significant is the reflection of yhe essence of novel. The atmosphere. And the connection between Jessica Lange and Jack Nicholson. The eroticism is pne of the pieces of the Depression chronicle of a dark love story . It works not only for the right script and good performances. But for the fine science to explore the details and give more than portrait of a dramatic fight for survive.

Milan One of the greatest Hollywood rogue & maverick directors, represented in grand persona of Bob Rafelson, (who was given a free hand by Lorimar on this one) did a mighty good job in adapting famous Cain novel for the big screen. Packing a whole lot more wallop then the original, constrained in studio system - censorship dictated, straight jacket, Postman of 1981 is the movie with outstanding performances, that let us feel every throb of passion and excitement, overflow in doomed love story, of two lost souls, Frank and Cora, that are brought together by sinister faith, their carnal desires and bad luck. They plan and go through the murder fueled by greed and sexual desire. The murder plot is almost silly but it's dictated by the level of their intelligence.There's something about the irony of two people who are caught by passion to begin with, and then transcend it, but can't elude the karma of their passion. That is very attractive to viewer who understands and feels their despair. They escalate each other's thoughts all the time,neither of them is capable of doing that audacious as murder, or even conceiving of their lives as anything but what they are, without each other. They're equal partners in their crime, their adultery and their murder and their love for each other.This movie shows all this and it shows it vividly, the way 1946 version never could. That's why, Rafelson film is the ultimate embodiment of James Cain novel. Cain never wrote about very intelligent criminals. He wrote about desperate outcasts. Frank and Cora are those in the truest sense, and only Nicholson and Lange, could make you not only see, but feel their emotion, hopes, dreams, and their ultimate loss.

Michael_Elliott The Postman Always Rings Twice (1981) ** (out of 4)Considering the talent in front of and behind the camera, there's really no way to look at this adaptation of the James M. Cain novel as anything but a disappointment. In the film, Jack Nicholson plays drifter Frank Chambers who enters the lives of Cora (Jessica Lange) and her much older husband Nick (John Colicos). Soon the drifter and Cora start up a sexual relationship, which leads to them planning the murder of the husband. This here would be the fourth version of the classic story and the second one filmed in America. Unlike the previous versions, director Bob Rafelson didn't have to worry about censors but even so this version isn't nearly as hot as the earlier one with Lana Turner. Outside a rather intense sex scene towards the start of the picture, this thing really never takes off, which is too bad because they've got a terrific cast and some beautiful settings but in the end the film is just flat. I think the first forty- five minutes are the best thing in the film as we see the love triangle set up and there's no question that the director has the look of the era down perfectly. I thought the setting really added a lot of atmosphere but sadly very little else happens. Nicholson was the perfect choice to play a drifter but the screenplay really doesn't give him too much to work with. Lange is clearly the best thing in the movie as she delivers a sexual charge to the thing. Colicos is also extremely good as the husband in a strong supporting performance. What really hurts the film is the second half because the director never really makes us believe or feel anything for the two leads. Are we supposed to hate them for what they've done? Are we supposed to be rooting for them to get away with the murder and live happily ever after? The entire second half of the film features way too many dialogue scenes that lead no where and in the end the "romance" that starts to bloom towards the end just never fully works. The film isn't nearly as bad as its reputation but at the same time there's no question that it's a major disappointment and a bitter feeling takes over when you think about what could have been.

gregkae It is quite a lengthy exercise, be prepared, so that you can put all that time to good use. I had my whites on long cycle, rice in the steamer, managed to do all my overdue emails, pay the bills and still not miss a single turn in the plot. It is like NASCAR without the cars, a walking contest. Forget what other reviews say about steamy sex scenes, there is only one and unfortunately, while you can get off to Lange, it includes Nicholson (and just like that scene, the movie is all over the place and does not make any sense and you do wish you could cut Nicholson out of the picture). Thank dog I got my stuff done otherwise I would have regretted lost time. The book is 100 pages long which makes circa 1.22 minutes of screen time per page and this is the gripping part.