Dick Tracy
Directed by Warren Beatty
- adventure
- comedy
- crime
The story
The comic strip detective finds his life vastly complicated when Breathless Mahoney makes advances towards him while he is trying to battle Big Boy Caprice's united mob.
What it’s like
Saturated primary colours carry the whole picture: flat, theatrical reds, yellows and greens under a bright sheen, the city's streets built like a comic-strip panel come to life. Sets are stylised and bold rather than realistic, with painted skies, cartoon-angled shadows and exaggerated prosthetic faces that look like they've been drawn in ink. The sound is brassy and jaunty, big-band swing dressed in gangster-movie swagger, with punchy effects on every punch and gunshot. Pacing is brisk and playful, built on gags, quick cuts and a pulp-serial energy, with the romance and the crime plot tangled together in a knowing, tongue-in-cheek way. The mood is retro, bouncy and self-aware, a sunny caricature of noir rather than a dark one. Violence is frequent and stylised, mostly slapstick-cartoon shootouts and fistfights with bodies flung around, plus gangster menace and a few grim villains, but nothing lingers or feels truly gory. It suits a lively weekend night, a nostalgic comfort watch, or fans of comic-book adaptations and old-school crime pastiche who want fun with a wink.
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