Dick Tracy

I'm heartily disappointed that this didn't produce sequels. If any fine actor/director of the period was perfect for the role of Dick Tracy, it was Beatty. He does very good work here. It's as if he took Tim Burton's template for 'Batman' and simply adjusted it for his comic-book picture. Madonna isn't bad here either, simply because she's pretending to be Marilyn Monroe, something she'd been wanting to do all of her career to that point. And the rogues gallery here is perhaps second in quality only to the aforementioned DC Caped Crusader. In retrospect, that perhaps was the picture's weakest link--no true criminal really dominated proceedings and stuck in one's mind. Had they tried the time-tested hookup of two baddies to get in Dick's hair just enough to rile him, it may have worked better. Still one of the most enjoyable, and underrated, comic-book pictures of the past three decades.

Debonair and brightly clad detective “Dick Tracy” (Warren Beatty) is out to stop an all out war breaking out in the city after mobster “Big Boy” (Al Pacino) slays “Lips” (Paul Sorvino) with a view to running the whole show. Part of that cunning plan is to unite all the criminal fraternities and get rid of this pesky cop. Meantime, “Tracy” alights on the permanently hungry “Kid” (Charlie Korsmo) whom he has to look after as well as his girlfriend “Tess” (Glenne Headly) as the bullets fly and things become seriously perilous for all three of them. He’s also got to figure out just what angle nightclub chanteuse “Breathless Mahoney” (Madonna) has in all of this - and is she at all to be trusted? Oh, and there’s also the malevolent “Blank” to deal with too. In many ways this brightly coloured series of escapades reminded me of “Bugsy Malone” (1976) only without the custard pies. It’s decently enough paced and there is the odd action sequence, for I found it to be just a bit too stylistic with not enough emphasis on the characters or on the story. Indeed, that last element is really pretty weak as none of the acting talent seem to quite know whether to play the menacing or the pantomime. There are a few moments from Pacino that raise it’s game now and again, but for the most part this is all a pale imitation of Edward G. Robinson or Robert Mitchum on a bad day. It’s all disappointingly tame and Madonna’s contributions - musically or otherwise, show her limitations as an actor all too clearly, too.

"Dick Tracy" is an incredibly well paced film and Warren Beatty has done a terrific job in the difficult task of taking an extraordinarily popular comic strip and endeavouring to bring it to life on the screen. He achieves this by having some of the backgrounds (and indeed the city skyline itself) drawn in the comic book style and he also makes the task aesthetically pleasing by using a wonderfully striking and beautifully vivid colour scheme. The film is considerably helped by the splendid make-up effects - they are of an impeccable calibre which really brings the gallery of eccentric comic book characters to life in a sometimes amusing way - and by the superb musical score with Madonna singing a selection of engaging songs and composer Danny Elfman providing appropriately atmospheric music throughout.