philiposlatinakis

John Ford was a career director and did not see himself as a purveyor of "art" films, yet here he is making one. Looking at this film from a 21st century perspective, when the Mexican history in question is no longer in the public memory, we take this film less for it's gesture and more for what it is. It's a true story that tries to be "timeless" as the voice over introduction says, to the point of simplifying characters to a ridiculous degree, simplifying the story (it's based on what's probably a much better novel - by Graham Greene), and going to overkill with the "artistic" photography, symbolism and general sense of being anywhere but an historical period. Some of the shots of Dolores Del Rio hamming it up are very embarrassing. To the extent that the film allows him to do anything, Fonda puts in a passable performance. Pedro Armendariz is adequate. Apparently Ford liked this movie. Closet artist that he was.

Hero and the Terror is late Chuck Norris and consequently less action orientated. We see Chuck do a little bit of karate, but it's mostly narrative driven. But the narrative is not so hot. It's a murder mystery of sorts, and Chuck plays it straight, to the best of his abilities. To be quite honest about it, this is a boring film. This is not Chuck in his element. Dictatorially, it is wishy washy. occasionally pretentious. But the photography is top notch. What it amounts to is that Chuck is an action star, and this is not an action film. Disappointing.

Chuck Norris movies tend to be polarizing. The Chuck fans love them regardless of short comings, and everyone else thinks they're a waste of celluloid. An Eye for an Eye is competently directed by Steve Carver, a man with actual talent. It's well edited. The performances are good (Chuck does his best). But the story and some of the dialogue is a little lame in places. However, Chuck karate kicks the bad guys and that's what we all really want to see. It's not a great film, but it's unpretentious and entertaining.