Good , But It Is Overrated By Some

Beautiful, moving film.

As Good As It Gets

Blistering performances.

I was completely stunned by this movie (which I had never even heard of before last night)--it should be near the top of everyone's list of the best movies of all times.I am tagging my review as a spoiler not for a plot element, but because I want to mention that it unfolds in real time: the 71 minutes of the movie corresponds exactly to 71 continuous minutes of action in the story, and this gives the movie much of its amazing intensity. I did not realize this until the end--that's why drawing attention to it is somewhat a spoiler.Robert Ryan is marvelous as Stoker, a boxer nearing the end of his career; Ryan boxed at Dartmouth and in the Marines and he is wonderful in the part. When he smiles his face lights up the screen. The actors in the smaller parts are outstanding and fun to watch--Stoker's tiny cut man with a marvelously expressive face, his opponent Tiger Nelson, the characters in the audience, and the boxers in the dressing room--every little portrait is a gem. The fight choreography is remarkable and so convincing, and the night photography of "Paradise City" is suitably lively and tawdry, but also beautiful in the way that only black and white cinematography can be, especially in the scene on the viaduct. (Little bit of trivia: The dance hall is named "The Coral Sea" which to the 1949 viewer called up a decisive battle between Japan and the US--the world's first air/sea encounter--a note of grim irony.) This movie made me wish that most movies were kept to 70 minutes--this intense pace makes contemporary movies seem boring, tedious and self-indulgent by comparison.

If you, like me, enjoy a real rock'em/sock'em boxing film with realism so brutal and gritty that it plays out like a slice of Film Noir, then The Set-Up (from 1949) is your ringside seat to 4 hard-hitting rounds of pulverizing action, non-stop.Filmed in its entirety on an indoor set that represented a grubby, downtown section of the fictional Paradise City, The Set-Up is an overlooked gem that is truly rough, mean and rugged filmmaking at one of its finest hours.Washed-up boxer, "Stoker" Thompson, who, at 35, still believes that he can lick his opponent (this time it being the 23 year-old pug, "Tiger" Nelson), is unknowingly set-up by his unethical manager to take a dive, which, in turn, will profit ruthless gangster, Little Boy, who's got some big bucks riding on "Tiger" to win the match.During 4 grueling rounds of sweaty, face-smashing, gut-punching action, Stoker (and his amazing ability to endure "Tiger" Nelson's lightning-fast wallops) earns the unanimous vocal support of the blood-thirsty spectators who at first had venomously rooted against him.Filmed in stark b&w, The Set-Up has a running time of only 72 minutes.This unsparing story and its savage look at the delusional dreams of one palooka's world of boxing, was directed by Robert Wise who went on to filmmaking greatness with such classic motion pictures as The Day The Earth Stood Still, West Side Story and The Andromeda Strain.

You know what's odd? I couldn't even tell you who the World Heavyweight Champ is today. However there was a time, and I'm referring to my own youth here back in the Fifties and Sixties, that even if you weren't a boxing fan, the names of the champion and top contenders were a ubiquitous presence in newspaper headlines and the evening news. Times sure change.This is the tale of a hanger-on, an over the hill pugilist going by the name of Stoker Thompson, admirably portrayed by Robert Ryan in one of his classic roles. At the age of forty, he's playing a thirty five year old fighter against a much younger contender on the way up, backed by a flashy gangster the townies call Little Boy (Alan Baxter). I can't say I was much impressed with actor Ryan's ring style, virtually spending the entire match in an uncomfortable looking crouch position that seemed defensive most of the time. This really hit me when I learned that Ryan actually did some boxing in his college and military service days. I've never boxed, so what do I know, except that it looked awkward for someone who wanted very much to win just one more fight.The film gets a lot of mileage out of it's supporting players. George Tobias and Percy Helton are wonderfully smarmy and duplicitous in the mismanagement of their boy Stoker. Edwin Max as Little Boy's stooge Danny also conveys a lot more with his facials than with any lines he gets to deliver. Stoker's long suffering gal Julie conveys all the desperation and fatigue of someone who stands by her man, but hopes against hope that he'll give up the fight game to join the rest of humanity. In that scene on the bridge overlooking the trolleys, the torn up pieces of her fight ticket seem to flutter away like the last remnants of desire in her heart that maybe, just maybe she and Stoker can someday have a happy life together.So it's 1949, and things were a lot simpler back then, but here's what I don't get. The money involved in the fix seemed inconsequential to me, and I don't understand how a hood like Little Boy could get so worked up over fifty bucks. Fifty bucks! Sure, he was bankrolling his girlfriend Bunny on a side wager for a C-note, but how far was that fifty dollar pay off expected to go between Tiny (Tobias), Red (Helton) and Stoker? This is what Stoker was supposed to lay down for? Maybe I'm being naive, but an average week's pay to throw a preliminary fight seemed like small potatoes to me.Anyway, you don't have to be a boxing fan to get something out of this flick. Filmed in a crisp noir style, it captures all the seedy atmosphere of small town venues and smoke filled arenas that anyone could ask for. The ticket to this match is worth every penny.

Its interesting to consider, that of all the sports, only boxing is the one Hollywood has been able to make great (and popular) films out of all. Here is one of the greats: "The Set-Up" (1949), directed by Robert Wise, who despite the constant jibes from film critics about "The Sound of Music" (1965), was a real professional and could make a high-quality film in virtually all genres. This film noir, though, is probably his all-time best, that, as "Time Out Film Guide" critic Chris Auty put it, is "One for the Ten Best Lists".Ageing boxer Bill "Stoker" Thompson (Robert Ryan) thinks he can still win, although his wife Julie (Audrey Totter) wants him to quit, not being able to take the mental and physical battering of the fight business. His manager Tiny (George Tobias) is confident he will lose, and, without telling him, he arranges for him to take a dive with tough gangster Little Boy (Alan Baxter). Everybody expects Thompson to lose against Tiger Nelson (Hal Baylor), only nobody told Stoker that...Brilliently directed in real time (although not so you'd notice), with excellent photography from Milton Krasner, boasting a number of long shots full of darkness, it also benefits from an absolutely impeccable performance from Ryan. He was one of the best actors of his generation, being able to generate a unique intensity that comes to the fore here. The supporting cast, including Totter, Tobias and Baxter, are all very good, but it is Ryan's show through and through.Along with Robert Rossen's excellent "Body and Soul" (1947), this has plainly had a palpable influence on Martin Scorsese's masterpiece "Raging Bull" (1980).A film that is a pure expression of fruitless pride coupled with masochism as there is anywhere, this is the best film anybody here ever worked on.