My film hot take it seems is that I actually don't mind when a film feels like a play in its presentation. Detective Story takes place almost entirely in one precinct and almost entirely within one room, an obvious element of the original stage production carrying over into the film adaptation. Yes, it isn't the most dynamically shot version you could pull out of this story, but in these situations I find the performances and the script have to really come through to make up for this imbalance. Luckily, a film like Detective Story has the good sense to focus on an engaging character study portrayed through an ensemble of perfectly cast performers. I wasn't entirely sure what I would be getting out of this coming in other than it being about a handful of cases passing through a New York precinct and the titular detective. What I was not expecting was a somewhat gritty piece about a cop simmering with indignance and anger who sees the people who come in and out of his jurisdiction in moral black and white. Initially, you see McLeod as a tough but judicious man who simply wants to clean the streets of crime, but slowly you start doubting how much he really cares about these people and how much he cares about his own sense of morality. And then the rug gets pulled from under us when we learn about his wife and why McLeod has spent the past year contemptuously pursuing a Dr. Schneider. It's the kind of plotline that hints at the more openly transgressive discussions Hollywood would have later in the decade about this topic but for what it is it's strikingly honest and tough to watch. All of this comes together through Kirk Douglas who is tightly wound through the whole thing, ready to spring at a moment's notice as if he feels he alone must play the protector in every room he's in. It's an incredible performance with some other real standouts in the form of Lee Grant, Eleanor Parker, and William Bendix (I'm keeping my eye on this Bendix fella). I found this quite compelling even if the last couple minutes go a bit too far in its moral underpinnings.
My film hot take it seems is that I actually don't mind when a film feels like a play in its presentation. Detective Story takes place almost entirely in one precinct and almost entirely within one room, an obvious element of the original stage production carrying over into the film adaptation. Yes, it isn't the most dynamically shot version you could pull out of this story, but in these situations I find the performances and the script have to really come through to make up for this imbalance. Luckily, a film like Detective Story has the good sense to focus on an engaging character study portrayed through an ensemble of perfectly cast performers. I wasn't entirely sure what I would be getting out of this coming in other than it being about a handful of cases passing through a New York precinct and the titular detective. What I was not expecting was a somewhat gritty piece about a cop simmering with indignance and anger who sees the people who come in and out of his jurisdiction in moral black and white. Initially, you see McLeod as a tough but judicious man who simply wants to clean the streets of crime, but slowly you start doubting how much he really cares about these people and how much he cares about his own sense of morality. And then the rug gets pulled from under us when we learn about his wife and why McLeod has spent the past year contemptuously pursuing a Dr. Schneider. It's the kind of plotline that hints at the more openly transgressive discussions Hollywood would have later in the decade about this topic but for what it is it's strikingly honest and tough to watch. All of this comes together through Kirk Douglas who is tightly wound through the whole thing, ready to spring at a moment's notice as if he feels he alone must play the protector in every room he's in. It's an incredible performance with some other real standouts in the form of Lee Grant, Eleanor Parker, and William Bendix (I'm keeping my eye on this Bendix fella). I found this quite compelling even if the last couple minutes go a bit too far in its moral underpinnings.
