Crack-Up

Certainly starts off with a bang (or two)...but the payoff inevitably seems rather trivial. Hard for me to really get all that excited about looney shenanigans from the art world.

Most of the suspense is predicated on plot-devices that erode the film’s credibility and thus it’s appeal. Points for the cinematography and decent acting. Hard to hate as a noir fan, but hard to love as a cinema enthusiast.

Something about the story felt half-finished, but the rest I liked. Certainly Pat O'Brien in slight trauma mode and manipulative Herbert Marshall elegantly going on with his ways, with Claire Trevor being the game in the middle. More for the short moments than a grand overall experience.

In 1956, philosopher Georg Lukacs was arrested as the Soviets shut down the Hungarian uprising. Lukacs was a defender of literary realism and not a big Kafka fan, but, the story goes, after his arrest in the middle of the night, Lukacs joked, "So, Kafka was a realist after all." Anyway, "Crack-Up" is a kind of light-weight, feel-good tale on the same theme, as a straight-shooting art curator who likes to make fun of the modernist painting gets sucked in to a criminal plot that's just bananas.

I think this is right about my limit of where I'm willing to go with ridiculous premises. Still, it's got great visuals, a compelling story if you're willing to forgive the absurd parts, and the lead is pretty good. I also really like Claire Trevor who is growing on me as an actress. She always comes off a little cold but I liked what they did here with that.

I was not on board with O'Brien, I thought he didn't make a very good protagonist at all. He came off a lot dumber than he was supposed to be. Otherwise the film is quite good. A crackerjack mystery with lots of turns and fantastic photography and a strong score. There are some great moments, it's a hell of an entertaining yarn. It feels a lot like a Philip Marlowe investigation. I just couldn't get past my distaste for O'Brien, and really didn't care a whole lot for the supporting cast either.