I grew up in the 1950s and 1960s, so I know first-hand what movies were like back then. The subject matter for this movie and how it is treated were definitely pushing the envelope of what the studios would allow, and what audiences were ready to see at that time. Often, however, films that are daring can't quite get beyond the self-congratulatory "look at us and how daring we are being" and actually take us somewhere we haven't been before or tell an original story.
The overall structure of the movie is fine, but it fails on two main points. First, at no time are we given any reason to see why the two characters are attracted to each other. While they are both gorgeous people to look at, and both well-versed in the 1950s morality that says you should do "the right thing," there is no quality, no dialog, and little action that would make one character attracted to the other. It is true that Steve McQueen's character does some amazingly kind and considerate things, but I cannot think of one thing Natalie Woods' character does that would make anyone attracted to her as a person. He rescues her, helps her, tries to understand her, defends her, and gets in a fight for her, but she never does one thing to help him, elevate him, intrigue him, or motivate him. Other than her amazing looks, we are given no reason why McQueen would fall in love with this perfect stranger.
The second and bigger failing is the direction. The screenwriter provides very sparse dialog, and most scenes find the actors posing, glancing, leaning, sitting, standing, moving, and generally fidgeting their way through scenes, as if random motion is going to convey some inner feelings. This is obviously entirely the work of the director. Emotions seem to turn on and off with almost every cut, and at times it is impossible to tell what the heck is going on.
This random motion turns to random Emotion in the final scene of the movie, something I guess I should have expected, but something which does not logically follow anything that comes before it, especially the immediately preceding scenes.
I have seldom seen a movie with a more thoroughly botched ending.
And finally, while others see chemistry between McQueen and Woods, I saw absolutely nothing. To me, chemistry is what we saw many years later between McQueen and Faye Dunaway in the original "Thomas Crown Affair." That was pure electricity. By contrast, this is barely a spark.
The overall structure of the movie is fine, but it fails on two main points. First, at no time are we given any reason to see why the two characters are attracted to each other. While they are both gorgeous people to look at, and both well-versed in the 1950s morality that says you should do "the right thing," there is no quality, no dialog, and little action that would make one character attracted to the other. It is true that Steve McQueen's character does some amazingly kind and considerate things, but I cannot think of one thing Natalie Woods' character does that would make anyone attracted to her as a person. He rescues her, helps her, tries to understand her, defends her, and gets in a fight for her, but she never does one thing to help him, elevate him, intrigue him, or motivate him. Other than her amazing looks, we are given no reason why McQueen would fall in love with this perfect stranger.
The second and bigger failing is the direction. The screenwriter provides very sparse dialog, and most scenes find the actors posing, glancing, leaning, sitting, standing, moving, and generally fidgeting their way through scenes, as if random motion is going to convey some inner feelings. This is obviously entirely the work of the director. Emotions seem to turn on and off with almost every cut, and at times it is impossible to tell what the heck is going on.
This random motion turns to random Emotion in the final scene of the movie, something I guess I should have expected, but something which does not logically follow anything that comes before it, especially the immediately preceding scenes.
I have seldom seen a movie with a more thoroughly botched ending.
And finally, while others see chemistry between McQueen and Woods, I saw absolutely nothing. To me, chemistry is what we saw many years later between McQueen and Faye Dunaway in the original "Thomas Crown Affair." That was pure electricity. By contrast, this is barely a spark.