By 1959 the film noir cycle had pretty much run its course. The "classic" period (as it is now referred to) had passed by the early 50s and "B" films were also a thing of the past, phased out by the seemingly endless need for inferior product to be displayed on television screens. "Odds Against Tomorrow" is still a great film, thoroughly ensconced in the tradition but something even a little bit more.
From the opening highly stylized credits to the lonely figure of Robert Ryan walking the empty streets of New York we know that we are in store for something unsettling, something special.
Each character in the film is tightly drawn with at least some level of complexity and interest. It has been said that it is the Begley performance that holds the film together but each contribution is key to creating the final effect of alienation and desperation that echoes even after the final credits role. Personally I found Belefonte's contribution the most searing. He captures the role of the divorced father to a tee. The scene where he is awakened by his ex-wife after sleeping (ever so slightly) with is daughter is masterful. You can sense the longing in his heart for the nuclear family that once was.
But the dream is over. He has tough call to make; he is the essence of film noir. As Sydeny Pollack notes in his summary of the noir protagonist, "You're %$W#%ed!" And he knows it.
Even though the Robert Ryan character is a confirmed racist he is still sympathetic, you still feel his desperation. Bad guys in most films today are just that, bad, and there is little attempt to draw the shades of gray in them. Ryan gave a lot of great performance but this nuanced turn even surpasses his earlier work in "Crossfire" where no such ambiguity exists.
From the opening highly stylized credits to the lonely figure of Robert Ryan walking the empty streets of New York we know that we are in store for something unsettling, something special.
Each character in the film is tightly drawn with at least some level of complexity and interest. It has been said that it is the Begley performance that holds the film together but each contribution is key to creating the final effect of alienation and desperation that echoes even after the final credits role. Personally I found Belefonte's contribution the most searing. He captures the role of the divorced father to a tee. The scene where he is awakened by his ex-wife after sleeping (ever so slightly) with is daughter is masterful. You can sense the longing in his heart for the nuclear family that once was.
But the dream is over. He has tough call to make; he is the essence of film noir. As Sydeny Pollack notes in his summary of the noir protagonist, "You're %$W#%ed!" And he knows it.
Even though the Robert Ryan character is a confirmed racist he is still sympathetic, you still feel his desperation. Bad guys in most films today are just that, bad, and there is little attempt to draw the shades of gray in them. Ryan gave a lot of great performance but this nuanced turn even surpasses his earlier work in "Crossfire" where no such ambiguity exists.