The Big Sleep

• TOP NOTCH (my top choices)
• HONORABLE MENTION (well worth watching)
• YOU MIGHT WANT TO CONSIDER (I like them but you might not)
• CLASSICS (Great movies up through the 1960s - many don't have any rating)

THE BIG SLEEP (1946) - PG (equivalent)- CLASSIC
  Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, John Ridgely    

Summary -  Private detective Philip Marlowe is hired by a rich family. Before the complex case is over, he's seen murder, blackmail, and what might be love.

Cautions - Some shooting and you might cut yourself on the sharp witty dialogue.

Commentary - If you are not familiar with films from this era you may not realize that there is such a thing as snappy, witty dialogue. Films today work hard to write how people talk. The Big Sleep is an amazing example of how we all wish we could speak.

Eddie Mars: Convenient, the door being open when you didn't have a key, eh?
Philip Marlowe: Yeah, wasn't it. By the way, how'd you happen to have one?
Eddie Mars: Is that any of your business?
Philip Marlowe: I could make it my business.
Eddie Mars: I could make your business mine.
Philip Marlowe: Oh, you wouldn't like it. The pay's too small.

SNAPPY!

Now look - you should definitely watch this movie but don't feel bad if you have problems following the complex storyline. It's the characters that captivate you and the performances that draw you in. So thoroughly does The Big Sleep cast its spell that it's the rare film which gets away with having an incomprehensible plot. Event by event, the film is so engrossing that you end up not caring who did what to whom. I promise you will get pulled in by the first few minutes. The writing is just that good.


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