Force of Evil

Seen for the first time in November 2012.

“Force of Evil” is a nice crisp film noir. Though it may seem a run-of-the-mill example of the genre at first glance, there is something in the film elevating it to a solid second tier status of film noir, just below the heavyweights like “The Big Sleep,” or “The Postman Always Rings Twice.” This is a very solid film, reminiscent, probably due to the issues of brotherhood, to “On the Waterfront.” They have similar endings even, though for some reason the “On the Waterfront” ending works whereas this one feels hollow and hokey.

It’s not the first good film noir with a bad ending though. Bad endings actually tended to happen as often as they were avoided. And though the whole basic plot of “Force of Evil” from start to finish is more or less discernible early on, it doesn’t stop the movie from commanding your attention. The background characters are as quirky as you’d want and everything is ably performed. I might like John Garfield better in this than in “The Postman Always Rings Twice.” The dialogue and the voice-overs are sharp as well. All in all, other than the ending, there’s no weak aspect of this noir, and plenty of strengths. Grade B+.