The Fugitive Kind serves as my second Sidney Lumet film and only my fourth time seeing Marlon Brando on screen and while the movie itself has some issues that ultimately hold it back from a higher rating the successes far outweigh the transgressions and the movie’s overall a pretty fun watch. After a weaker first act I was worried this two hour runtime would do a number on me but I have to commend the movie and story for growing my intrigue as the time went on, as I saw more of Brando and Magnani’s unique romantic chemistry and the story starting to find its footing I connected a lot more with the narrative. Where it’s a bit of a shock for me is in how I enjoyed the structure, with a movie that blunders its potential I’m usually the biggest fan of the first act and with one that does everything right it’s usually the third that wows me most, that leaves the second acts out of commonly being my favorites yet to defy my typicality I’d say the second act was the highlight here. As far as the story goes there were parts I enjoyed with the central relationship drama being a lot of fun, and with a pretty good screenplay (outside of some weird scene transitions) I’d say Tennessee Williams did a good job here but there were also some things about his story, worst of all the ending, that did somewhat nullify the magic of the impressive writing, great performances, and other highlights in that story. It’s also shot beautifully, my first Lumet experience Fail Safe didn’t require all that much in terms of complex shot composition and while this story is similar in that regard I was happy to see him showing off more of his style, especially with it looking this good. There’s not much more to say about The Fugitive Kind, it’s a simple but effective story told about as well as it could’ve been through Lumet’s fantastic direction and Brando and Magnani’s, although quite mumbly, impressive leads, this was a completely random watch tonight and while it wasn’t anything revolutionary I’m very thankful I chose it as it gets me interested in filling some critical gaps I have in my movie knowledge.
The Fugitive Kind serves as my second Sidney Lumet film and only my fourth time seeing Marlon Brando on screen and while the movie itself has some issues that ultimately hold it back from a higher rating the successes far outweigh the transgressions and the movie’s overall a pretty fun watch. After a weaker first act I was worried this two hour runtime would do a number on me but I have to commend the movie and story for growing my intrigue as the time went on, as I saw more of Brando and Magnani’s unique romantic chemistry and the story starting to find its footing I connected a lot more with the narrative. Where it’s a bit of a shock for me is in how I enjoyed the structure, with a movie that blunders its potential I’m usually the biggest fan of the first act and with one that does everything right it’s usually the third that wows me most, that leaves the second acts out of commonly being my favorites yet to defy my typicality I’d say the second act was the highlight here. As far as the story goes there were parts I enjoyed with the central relationship drama being a lot of fun, and with a pretty good screenplay (outside of some weird scene transitions) I’d say Tennessee Williams did a good job here but there were also some things about his story, worst of all the ending, that did somewhat nullify the magic of the impressive writing, great performances, and other highlights in that story. It’s also shot beautifully, my first Lumet experience Fail Safe didn’t require all that much in terms of complex shot composition and while this story is similar in that regard I was happy to see him showing off more of his style, especially with it looking this good. There’s not much more to say about The Fugitive Kind, it’s a simple but effective story told about as well as it could’ve been through Lumet’s fantastic direction and Brando and Magnani’s, although quite mumbly, impressive leads, this was a completely random watch tonight and while it wasn’t anything revolutionary I’m very thankful I chose it as it gets me interested in filling some critical gaps I have in my movie knowledge.
