I guess my biggest gripe w/ Beatty in this movie is that he often seems lost (as if he's sleepwalking) or not in control (even though ironically, he's the director). Dick Tracy to me, should be a square but still hard-boiled, old-school cop. Beatty seemed too laid back for such a thing.
I guess if it were up to me, I would've gone w/ somebody like Harrison Ford in the Tracy role.
I've always liked "Dick Tracy", but I guess you're onto something very important. Most people seem to direct a lot of negativity against Madonna, but the more I think about it - and despite being a fan of Beatty - the male lead is the biggest problem. He should have cast someone else besides himself. Of course we all like our heroes to keep their cool, but Beatty's Tracy seems much too cool, like all the stuff happening around him doesn't really bother him. This is okay for the original classic comic book, but movies are different. When the hero doesn't seem to care much in a movie, then why should we?
Thankfully much of the movie is saved by a fantastic supporting cast, nice atmosphere, as well as the great visual style making it truly look like a comic book come to life. It's impressive how Warren Beatty of all people actually directed a movie that visually out-Burtons Tim Burton!
Replacing Beatty - and I guess, Madonna - would have made this film legendary. Instead now it is more of a "little gem" type of film with a small group of dedicated fans instead of the major classic it should have been.
Imagine your suggestion, Harrison Ford, and maybe Michelle Pfeiffer instead of Madonna. Oo la la... that would have been WOW.
The real trouble with Beatty directing and playing Tracy is that it upped the feeling of this being a vanity project. People had a hard time suspending disbelief and not seeing Beatty and Madonna but their characters instead. The movie is amazing but it's unbalanced between the over-the-top supporting characters and a too-serious leading man.
When there's no more room in hell, the dead will walk the earth.
Beatty also refused to wear makeup, to look like Tracy, as drawn.
Funny, though, if you looked @ Mandy Patinkin (who IS in the film), when this film was made---he looked a lot more like the comic Tracy.
He wouldn't have sold tickets, though.
Carpe Noctem!
Looking at Warren Beatty in Dick Tracy, it some times feels like watching a middle aged guy playing dress-up (if that makes sense)! It seemed like Beatty was so wrapped up in the movie's overall like and tone, that there wasn't enough room left to work more on his own performance.
shareI liked him as Tracy. He seemed a little more sensitive but he was tough as well.
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Absolutely. He felt like a dull, poor man's version of Harrison Ford. I doubt if Ford would have taken the role, as it might be a little too similar to another fedora-wearing adventurer from the first half of the 20th century, but I think he would have been great in the role if he had.
share@Forgotten_Hero There were times when he yelled, "Hey, Kid!" and it reminded me of Indy and Short Round.
shareI was just stating this on the Sin City vs Dick Tracy thread...despite Mickey Rourke being a "serious, don't eff with me" character (as Dick Tracy was supposed to be as well), Mickey is completely watchable while Warren is just...BORING! Hated that he put himself in the lead.
If I recall, this was supposed to be Disney's answer to Tim Burton's Batman (before Disney decided to just BUY the Marvel fanboys)...and IMO it just failed to do much of anything. I will give it the great use of sets & colors, but that's about it!
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I'm your average ordinary everyday, jorgeegeetooo!
He does seem a little too subdued throughout, but madonna was great IMO.
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Well, well, well, something we can agree on here. I liked Dick Tracy as a kid because I didn't really know better, and it came out at a time when dark, noirish, atmospheric films like Batman and other Tim Burton-esque films were abounding. Looking back on it now, I feel that it got so many things wrong and tried to walk a line between being semi-cartoonish for the kids while offering more adult thrills and failed at both.
The mind boggles at some of the decisions Warren Beatty made while attempting to navigate the waters of this film.
Glad we could find some even ground for agreement, ramon.
I don't know if you're aware of this but I've already changed things. I killed Ben Linus.
--Sayid
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Wow. Such hostility. I'm sure you realize how big of a prick you're being in this whole thing, I'm sure you're doing it on purpose because maybe it's more fun to troll or be an ass. Maybe you genuinely can't control your impulses. I was trying to be the bigger man and reach out an olive branch when I see we have some things in common. Maybe offer a truce but nope you gotta be an ass about it. I hope you have a nice sad pathetic lonely life posting Prometheus hate from your mother's basement. I don't know what about that movie got your panties so twisted that you have to slap down an offer of common ground like that, but you're seriously deranged if you let one movie affect you like this. Have a nice life, doucheblanket.
I don't know if you're aware of this but I've already changed things. I killed Ben Linus.
--Sayid
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Btw Cannibal Holocaust is my FAVORITE exploitation film, followed closely by I Spit on Your Grave, Last House on the Left and the Grindhouse double feature. That's just the kind of guy I am!
I don't know if you're aware of this but I've already changed things. I killed Ben Linus.
--Sayid
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Oh, yeah, I forgot you said in another post somewhere that you are OCD. Guess that accounts for your "dig in and don't give an inch" attitude...
I don't know if you're aware of this but I've already changed things. I killed Ben Linus.
--Sayid
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I never had a problem with Warren Beatty as Dick Tracy.
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