David Pickell

Potential spoiler Another Denzel treat! Nicely placed moments of comic relief create a nice rhythm to this skilfully plotted modern sunny day noir. Loved the tone and the diabolical pressure-cooker you hoped (okay, knew) Chief W would wriggle out of. Great twists and turns and a warm thread of romance. A connoisseur of this genre might find it predictable in spots, and the narrow escapes might threaten credibility. But hey: how credible is Polonius hiding behind a curtain then getting skewered? And nobody bitches about Hamlet. Well done, writers, actors, director.

***Spoiler***I love JS and Mr. Cobb and all the rest of the performers. Being a story nerd, it occurs to me that the “photo enlargement seeking the date” sequence may have been un-necessary - the date of the Wanda Skutnik photo could have been confirmed by merely comparing the contours of the printed front page held by the newsboy with an archived Dec 22 paper. But poof! There goes the climactic moment … (fortunately) drama trumps rationality in story making!!