Review of The Front (1976) by Austin B — 20 Sep 2008
It's hard to put down a movie that's so personal to various members of the cast and crew who knew firsthand what it was like to be blacklisted. But, nonetheless, it is a flawed film. I think really the main problem here was the casting of Woody allen in the lead.
Since Allen essentially doe sthe same performance from movie to movie, I couldn't believe he was a (more or less) illiterate when he acts the same way as film and literature buff Alvy singer In Annie Hall.
Allen distracts you slightly from what the real story of this movie is: about the Hollywood blacklisting and what a crock of shit it was. As I said before, several cast and crew members were blacklisted at one time, so this is a very personal film to them.
You can feel the anger of those it happened to. But it cosses back and forth too much between the silly and the serious. Either do a dead on satire or a serious film, but try to attack both sides. This is even more true when you look and see how the filmakers didn't really seem to be trying for laughs at all, like putting Allen's fake writer character is even more comically dangerous situations.
Another good idea with a weak effort.
This review of The Front (1976) was written by Austin B on 20 September 2008.
The Front has generally received positive reviews.
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