Crime Wave
I wasn’t expecting Crime Wave to be this brisk and atmospheric. It rattles along at about 70 minutes – all night streets, shabby apartments and bad decisions – and somehow never feels rushed. You’re dropped into an ex-con’s attempt to go straight, and the film just keeps tightening the screws as his past comes knocking with a gun in its hand.
Sterling Hayden is the secret sauce here. His detective is tall, tired, charismatically sardonic and detached, a man who’s seen too many screw-ups to waste sympathy but still hasn’t gone completely numb. Every time he lopes into frame the film gets a little funnier and a little more dangerous; I could happily have spent more time with his cop just needling suspects and colleagues.
Visually it’s a treat: tough little location shots, noir shadows without the self-parody, and a world that feels properly lived in. You can imagine a flabbier, longer version of this story. I’m very glad this one sticks to the good stuff and gets out clean.
Sterling Hayden is the secret sauce here. His detective is tall, tired, charismatically sardonic and detached, a man who’s seen too many screw-ups to waste sympathy but still hasn’t gone completely numb. Every time he lopes into frame the film gets a little funnier and a little more dangerous; I could happily have spent more time with his cop just needling suspects and colleagues.
Visually it’s a treat: tough little location shots, noir shadows without the self-parody, and a world that feels properly lived in. You can imagine a flabbier, longer version of this story. I’m very glad this one sticks to the good stuff and gets out clean.
Mini Review: I wasn’t expecting Crime Wave to be this brisk and atmospheric. In about 70 minutes you get night streets, shabby flats and an ex-con’s past knocking with a gun in its hand. Sterling Hayden is the secret sauce: tall, tired, charismatically sardonic and detached. The LA locations pop, the noir shadows never tip into parody, and the film sticks to the good stuff then gets out clean