Dick Tracy

6/13/19901h 45m

Premiere Release (US)

~ Their turf. Their game. Their rules. They didn't count on HIS law... ~

Overview:

The comic strip detective finds his life vastly complicated when Breathless Mahoney makes advances towards him while he is trying to battle Big Boy Caprice's united mob.

Director:

Warren Beatty

Status:

Released

Language:

English

Buget:

$47,000,000.00

Revenue:

$103,738,726.00

Key words:

martial arts
corruption
fight
gangster
crime fighter
investigation
villain
based on comic
organized crime
one man army
criminal
police detective
one against many
urban setting
policeman
action hero
good versus evil

Cast

Warren Beatty

~ as ~

Dick Tracy

Al Pacino

~ as ~

Big Boy Caprice

Madonna

~ as ~

Breathless Mahoney

Dustin Hoffman

~ as ~

Mumbles

James Caan

~ as ~

Spaldoni

Charlie Korsmo

~ as ~

Kid

Glenne Headly

~ as ~

Tess Trueheart

Mandy Patinkin

~ as ~

88 Keys

Seymour Cassel

~ as ~

Sam Catchem

James Keane

~ as ~

Pat Patton

View full cast & crew

Reviews (4)

John Chard
Written 11 year(s) ago
7
A bit too mellow yellow.

Dick Tracy is directed by Warren Beatty and written by Jim Cash and Jack Epps Jr. Based on Chester Gould’s comic strip creation of the same name, it stars Beatty, Al Pacino, Madonna, Glenne Headly, Dustin Hoffman, Charlie Korsmo, Charles Durning and William Forsythe. Music is by Danny Elfman, with songs by Stephen Sondheim, and cinematography is by Vittorio Storaro.

Punk Rock band X-Ray Spex once sang about The Day The World Turned Day-Glo, Warren Beatty’s Dick Tracy was exactly that. The live action cartoon is a feast for the eyes, as the city backdrop for this cops and gangsters tale is a fountain of bright, lurid primary colours. The characters are drawn brilliantly, where the good guys are very much human, but the bad guys are a bunch of grotesques, like a mutant gathering under one coalition banner. All star casting, striking costuming, amazing effects work, quality songs and a brisk musical score (Elfman reworks his score for Batman from the previous year), Dick Tracy as a production is grade “A” stuff. It also did very well at the box office, where although it didn’t reach Disney’s expectation levels financially, it coined to the tune of over $100 million in profit Worldwide. Not bad for a film some still think was a flop!

It’s a film that feels a lot better watching it now than it did back on release, to be able to view it as a smart technical accomplishment for the time it was made. The cast factor also makes it something of a fascinating experience, watching legends like Pacino and Hoffman absolutely buy into the cartoon excess on show. However, the old problem with it just will never go away. Yes the plot is very simple, but that’s easy to accept these days, it was after all a gangster movie made for all the family, it’s that Beatty’s portrayal of Tracy is too under played. He’s a good guy, we know that, we are on his side, but it’s a flat characterisation, he’s never pushed to be anything other than a cool dude. This of course lets the monstrous villains take the film by the scruff of the neck, as most villains tend to anyway, but for a film carrying his name, you expect a bit more from Dick Tracy the man.

Still, Dick Tracy is a fun movie experience, not all it can be, but enjoyable regardless. 7/10
t
talisencrw
Written 9 year(s) ago
8
I'm heartily disappointed that this didn't produce sequels. If any fine actor/director of the period was perfect for the role of Dick Tracy, it was Beatty. He does very good work here. It's as if he took Tim Burton's template for 'Batman' and simply adjusted it for his comic-book picture. Madonna isn't bad here either, simply because she's pretending to be Marilyn Monroe, something she'd been wanting to do all of her career to that point. And the rogues gallery here is perhaps second in quality only to the aforementioned DC Caped Crusader. In retrospect, that perhaps was the picture's weakest link--no true criminal really dominated proceedings and stuck in one's mind. Had they tried the time-tested hookup of two baddies to get in Dick's hair just enough to rile him, it may have worked better. Still one of the most enjoyable, and underrated, comic-book pictures of the past three decades.
CinemaSerf
Written 10 month(s) ago
6
Debonair and brightly clad detective “Dick Tracy” (Warren Beatty) is out to stop an all out war breaking out in the city after mobster “Big Boy” (Al Pacino) slays “Lips” (Paul Sorvino) with a view to running the whole show. Part of that cunning plan is to unite all the criminal fraternities and get rid of this pesky cop. Meantime, “Tracy” alights on the permanently hungry “Kid” (Charlie Korsmo) whom he has to look after as well as his girlfriend “Tess” (Glenne Headly) as the bullets fly and things become seriously perilous for all three of them. He’s also got to figure out just what angle nightclub chanteuse “Breathless Mahoney” (Madonna) has in all of this - and is she at all to be trusted? Oh, and there’s also the malevolent “Blank” to deal with too. In many ways this brightly coloured series of escapades reminded me of “Bugsy Malone” (1976) only without the custard pies. It’s decently enough paced and there is the odd action sequence, for I found it to be just a bit too stylistic with not enough emphasis on the characters or on the story. Indeed, that last element is really pretty weak as none of the acting talent seem to quite know whether to play the menacing or the pantomime. There are a few moments from Pacino that raise it’s game now and again, but for the most part this is all a pale imitation of Edward G. Robinson or Robert Mitchum on a bad day. It’s all disappointingly tame and Madonna’s contributions - musically or otherwise, show her limitations as an actor all too clearly, too.
k
kevin2019
Written 4 month(s) ago
8
"Dick Tracy" is an incredibly well paced film and Warren Beatty has done a terrific job in the difficult task of taking an extraordinarily popular comic strip and endeavouring to bring it to life on the screen. He achieves this by having some of the backgrounds (and indeed the city skyline itself) drawn in the comic book style and he also makes the task aesthetically pleasing by using a wonderfully striking and beautifully vivid colour scheme. The film is considerably helped by the splendid make-up effects - they are of an impeccable calibre which really brings the gallery of eccentric comic book characters to life in a sometimes amusing way - and by the superb musical score with Madonna singing a selection of engaging songs and composer Danny Elfman providing appropriately atmospheric music throughout.