Deathtrap (1982)

A decade before Deathtrap, Caine made his mark in the diabolically clever film Sleuth. Deathtrap has very similar style twists, turns, and revelations, but loses its grip in the second half. The casting is a little off with Irene Worth turning in a barely intelligible performance (it was supposed to be funny) as a Scandinavian psychic and Dyan Cannon giving an absolutely grating performance as Bruhl's (Caine's) wife. Thankfully, the two main actors, Caine and Reeve, give it their all and were a great pleasure to watch. Without giving much of the plot away, Bruhl, a stagnating playwright, comes across a brilliant play written by a student. Because he is desperate for a hit, he considers murdering the student and taking it for himself. From there, it goes crazy. With these maze-like films it's fun to see just how everything plays out. Typical of Sidney Lumet films, the production is slick and the material is smart. Johnny Mandel's baroque score imitates Sleuth's soundtrack, but it's far more heavy-handed. Despite its shortcomings, Deathtrap is a clever, flawed film that serves as a good companion piece to Sleuth.

7/10--I was tempted to give it a 7.5, but I told myself I'd never give halves. I'd say the body of the film is an 8, but I was disappointed with resolution.

A View to a Kill (1985)

Roger Moore's final attempt to destroy the franchise almost succeeds in A View to a Kill. Not even Christopher Walken's presence can provide any relief. Walken plays Max Zorin, an insane but enterprising businessman who wants to eradicate Silicon Valley so that he can create a microchip cartel. But for some reason he starts by rigging horse races. We spend the first HOUR investigating horse-race doping until we finally get into the main plot. I zoned out for over half of the runtime. Occasionally, a stunt here or there would be impressive, but I was so tired of obvious stunt doubles and bad rear projection that I just didn't care. Roger is at his eyebrow-waggling zenith and it's more irritating than ever. In no other Bond film have I rooted for anyone to lodge a bullet into Bond's head. They had a few good chances, too! Grace Jones is terrifying, and the other Bond girl--Tanya Roberts--is worse than Denise Richards (!). I could go on, but I think I can safely say that A View to a Kill is the worst Bond film ever made.

1/10

Octopussy (1983)

Roger Moore's sixth outing is hardly worth mentioning as it contributes nothing special to the franchise. The story is lame, the dialogue is lame, the stunts are lame, the theme song is lame, the gadgets are lame, the villains are lame, the girls are lame, and the Indian setting is borderline insulting. Everything is LAME. Old creaky bones Moore limps his way through India trying to follow the nefarious scheme involving jewels and nuclear bombs. Maud Adams returns to the franchise--heaven knows why--as Octopussy. Speaking of which, who nicknames their kid Octopussy? Every time anyone said "Octopussy," I was embarrassed for the actors. The film is not quite as inept as Man with the Golden Gun (the other Maud Adams Bond film), but it's not good. The film isn't even well-made from a technical standpoint since they had to edit around Moore's lame-o fight scenes and stunt doubles. But the biggest problem is that there are no stakes and no suspense to counteract Moore's foaming mouth-shit and eyebrow waggling. Octopussy is bad camp and utterly boring.

4/10

Marathon Man (1976)

A taut thriller starring Dustin Hoffman, Lawrence Olivier, and Roy Scheider, directed by John Schlesinger, Marathon Man is a twisted, suspenseful experience until it cops out right at the end. Hoffman plays a graduate student who haphazardly gets caught up in the scheme of one of the last remaining and most ruthless Nazi fugitives, Christian Szell (Olivier)--and that's all I can tell you. The film is effective at providing loose threads and keeping them loose until the revelatory moment hits you and it all comes together. It's not that the film is cryptic--it was pretty easy to see where the film was going--it's just that you don't know how. There are also one or two logical points that don't quite work. Either way, it was a pleasure to see it play out. The film production is a bit rough around the edges, but it works in its favor. Tightly woven, slightly sadistic, and fascinating, I enjoyed the film fully until the very end. I found out later that the cop-out ending was forced by Dustin Hoffman. It's a shame they never filmed the original ending because from the summary, it looks like it would have been a far more satisfying and believable conclusion.

7/10

Italian Job, The (1969)

Michael Caine stars in this lighthearted heist film that spoofs British culture relentlessly. From the stiff upper lip Mr Bridger (Noel Coward) who fancies himself like the Queen of England to the zany, non-sequitur sight gags and droll humor, The Italian Job is distinctly British and an unusual comedy-crime thriller. Caine delivers a great performance as Charlie Croker, a criminal fresh out of prison who decides to work a huge job--The Italian Job--as a favor to a deceased friend. He has to manage and wrangle with a team of incompetent but likeable cronies to pull off the elaborate heist--and what an elaborate heist it is. Featuring three Mini Cooper getaway cars (in the colors of the British flag) and a huge coach (also British colors), as well as some complicated but unlikely getaway tactics, the chase scene was more comedy than suspense, but it was fun. And that can be said for the rest of the picture. Surprisingly, the comedy combines well with the suspense and it rolls up nicely into a shallow but enjoyable film.

7/10