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Re: AFI 100 Years Series Discussion & Challenges, vol. 2
Crossfire - 8 of 10
Stars list - Robert Mitchum
Crossfire is an outstanding film and noir, more of a detective story than just about anything. Mitchum is almost a peripheral character, almost the lead. He plays the sergeant of a group of soldiers and he decides to play detective when his roomate, Mitchell, becomes suspected of the murder of a jew that opens the film. Mitchell is a nice kid but dealing with coming home in a tough way and he can't really cope, he's been drinking with a couple of guys Monty and Floyd and he's not sure what happened that night and no one can find him. But Monty is awfully helpful at telling the police just everything all open and honest about what happened. mmhm. Mitchum does a great job in his role, but the role seems to be more about running interference on the actual detective to stretch out the runtime than a really essential character. the film also has a spiel about hate crimes that is fascinating and bold for the time period but a bit on-the-nose today.
Good cinematography and sharply edited, it also features some nice double exposure effects to highlight Mitchell's distorted or drunken view. Very well done.
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