To Have and Have Not
The first with Bogie and Bacall.
Ostensibly from a Hemmingway story and rewritten (or should that be “reimagined”?) by William Faulkner, Humphrey Bogart plays a charter boat captain in Vichy-controlled Martinique. He meets fem fatale Lauren Bacall and hilarity ensues. No, wait, not hilarity, what’s that other thing? Drama! Drama ensues.
While it has good writing and clever dialog, the story just feels like a Casablanca knock-off only not as good. Yes, it has a great look and everything a good noir film should have– antihero, villain, pointy breasted women in cool hats– but the story falls flat. And that’s what I don’t understand. For a movie that seems to have it all, it just doesn’t gel. But maybe it would get better with a second (or third) viewing.
Rating: C; would watch again.
