Some beautifully evocative lighting, costumes, hair styles, and several impressive scenes convey the atmosphere of Film Noir in this throwback, and director Fredianelli (who also appears as a hilarious criminal lackey) gives a colorful performance, but the Wild Dogs staple of aggressively creepy, unrealistic characters too often derails a story buried beneath pages of exposition. This in a genre built on rapid fire characterizations and dialogue?
It doesn't help things that many of the East coast accents come and go with the cast. The slow pacing and huge gaps in conversation are also troubling when compared to characters in "They Live By Night" or "The Killers". Still, the movie has its share of period-breaking entertainment when it doesn't focus too much on pouty tough guys:
Inter-racial rape is featured during a robbery, which bucks convention. (And also provides some "ick" factor). One dirty parole officer says he's "going on hiatus", a man's hotel room comes with a staircase, and there's a nightclub cameo from "The Artist", last scene in the Scott Hellon film "A Decision to Choose to Ask Why". Also, we finally see a movie where a masked robber simply pulls off his mask because he "can't breathe with this thing on!".
Overall, the look and design of the movie has a lot going for it-- ignoring the CGI Tommy Gun bursts--and the sets are often exceptional, including a bedroom with a real safe and walls begging to be demolished. A bold attempt at a genre worth revisiting many times over.
