The Roaring Twenties

I was hoping for more Bogart. I still don't like Cagney that much, but he's better in this film than in White Heat. I really don't have any strong opinions about the movie one way or another... I didn't love it, but nothing about it annoyed me or bored me.

Bogart has some good moments, but it's the Cagney show all the way. What's so good about his performance is that he can sell the whole gamut from war despair to good bloke done wrong to prohibition kingpin and beyond, making the inevitable downfall and the surrounding themes particularly effective. His character is sympathetic without ever being denied the agency of being the instrument of his own downfall. It's a fine line to balance both for a script and an actor, and not many do it as well.

Quite good but never great. I prefer Bogart to Cagney for sure.

Cagney and bogart are great. Cagney plays the traditional man forced by circumstance to twist himself convincingly and sympathetically. Dialogue is good, every scene has life. Wellpaced and even if the story is predictable its still a great piece of entertainment.

Something about this really clicked with me and I was engaged and entertained all the way through.