Saturday, June 10, 2017

Madigan (1968)

Director: Don Siegel

Writers: Howard Rodman, Abraham Polonsky, Richard Dougherty

Composer: Don Costa

Starring: Richard Widmark, Henry Fonda, Inger Stevens, Harry Guardino, James Whitmore, Susan Clark, Michael Dunn, Steve Ihnat, Don Stroud, Sheree North, Warren Stevens, Raymond St. Jacques, Bert Freed, Conrad Bain

More info: IMDb

Tagline: "If Detective Madigan kept his eyes on the killer instead of the broad..."

Plot: In New York City's Spanish Harlem, detectives Madigan and Bonaro are given 72 hours by their superior to capture a hoodlum wanted for homicide in Brooklyn.



My rating: 6.5/10

Will I watch it again?  No.

This would be a much better picture if it weren't for spending so much time on the home lives of Madigan (Widmark) and Commissioner Russell (Fonda).  My interest in the crime drama aspect came to a screeching halt when both of them are at home trying to work things out with their spouses.  It's downright boring.  I like Fonda but in this picture he plays yet another professional man who is good at what he does but he carries the weight of the world on his shoulders and he delivers his lines with such frustration that you wonder why the hell he's still in the job.  I swear I've seen him play that in a dozen films.  The cast does very well but it's Widmark and Guardino (who plays his detective partner, Rocco Bonaro).  The film works best when it is focused on the two detectives and it fails most when it doesn't.  



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