Dick Tracy (1990)

Dick Tracy was released in 1990. Tim Burton's Batman was released a year earlier and nearly a quarter of a century later, his take on the Dark Knight is looking its age.

Dick Tracy on the other hand with its comic strip look and a colour palette of seven colours with a focus on primary colours looks fresh and dazzling even today.

Warren Beatty was never an actor who chased populist vehicles. He rather made films that were thoughtful. Here as star and director Beatty deliberately went for a unique approach to the Chester Gould comic strip character.

Only Ang Lee with his approach to the Hulk has shown that kind of originality.

What Dick Tracy also has is a wealth of stars, many of them under heavy makeup. Al Pacino has a licence to chew the scenery even more than his Tony Montana.

Madonna is sultry enough although she is not a strong enough actress but at least she gets to sing the Sondheim tunes.

Beatty is believable as Dick Tracy, Glenne Headly is the one who is actually more sexy than Madonna as Tess Trueheart. There is an actual script with a decent storyline and it is one of the more original takes on a comic book adaptation ever made.

Plaudits has to go to Beatty as star and director.

Fmovies: The 1990 film Dick Tracy is the most modern cinematic take on the comic strip created by Chester Gould which ran from 1931 to 1977. This version stars Warren Beatty as Dick Tracy and his love interest Tess Trueheart is played by Glenne Headly. Dick Tracy continues on his mission to clean the city of the gangster that try to run things. Big Boy Caprice played by Al Pacino is trying to unite all of the different mob organization to take over the city and be done with Tracy for good. Those who don't join him such as Pat Patton (James Caan) and Lips Manless (Paul Sorvino) meet an untimely demise. The only one who can stop Big Boy is Tracy. Tracy hits the gangster hard until the character called No Face frames him for the murder of D.A. Fletcher (Dick Van Dyke). With Tracy off the streets Big Boy and his goons own the town. How will Tracy with the help of Kid (Charlie Korsmo) put an end to this madness? With the main theme being the typical good versus evil that is present in so many comic to movie story lines, this is not the melodramatic dark story of Batman. It parallels in a lot of ways to Sin City. The use of colors to make up the cities between the two films is similar as is the hard-nosed cop going after the bad guy at any costs. While this is a much more family friendly movie than Sin City, the similarities between the two in terms of graphics are definitely there.

Besides the amazingly bright colors that make up the city and the costumes, the singing done by Breathless Mahoney (Madonna), when she isn't too busy trying to seduce Tracy, really captures the camera. By the end of the movie you might be wishing that they had cut a song or two out of it, but none the less, Breathless lived up to her name with her amazing revealing costumes. The costume designing throughout the movie was great as many characters seemed to match. Kid took quite a liking to Tess and was often seen wearing the same shade of red as she was. Tracy wore his trademark yellow trench coat and fedora of course, but every character in the movie was dressed to the 9's.

The only part of the movie that really out-shined the wardrobe was the superb job done by the makeup department. The effect they used to change the faces of the villains was incredible. Big Boy was only identifiable as Al Pacino by his voice, and the work done to Flat-Top was great. The job of acting by Dustin Hoffman in the role of Mumbles will leave you laughing, especially the scene with the court reporter.

Overall this is a fun movie to watch as a family. There are the parts that will make the parents smile, and the content is suitable for most ages, as well as the theme of good versus evil in a dazzling colored world, and you will finish the movie wishing you had one of the famous Dick Tracy two-way watches.

I never attended the midnight showing of a movie before "Dick Tracy" came out.

I still have the "t-shirt ticket" I had to wear to get admitted to the showing around here somewhere and, like that shirt, "Dick Tracy" has stuck with me ever since.

If you've seen the movie, the sharp visuals, bright primary colors and strong characters have no doubt been etched into your brain. It's a wonder to behold.

As director/star/co-writer/producer, Beatty knows what works in a film and shows it here, taking a familiar American icon and re-creating him for a whole new era. Still set in the '30s, "Tracy" has a kind of timeless quality like all good films do. I've lost track of how many times I've watched "Tracy" and I still catch something new every time I do.

The others are all top notch, starting with Pacino's Big Boy Caprice (a reminder that he can do comedy with the best of them), even Madonna's Breathless Mahoney is a relevation in that under the right environment, she can act (GASP!).

But there's still such themes touched on as the necessity of family, keeping true to one's self, good versus evil, even Machiavellian themes are explored. Odd for a comic strip film, but hey, it works.

All in all, "Dick Tracy" is a classic unto itself. Compared with other films of this decade, it makes a strong statement. It's a good, strong film that doesn't depend on blood, violence, profanity or nudity to make its point.

There's a lesson to be learned here.

Ten stars. Great Scott!

Dick Tracy fmovies. I've been watching "Dick Tracy" for years, and as a result it's become a vital part of my life - it was with me throughout childhood and I used to see it quite often. Seeing it now, as an adult, it's still a very good movie - dark, satiric and incredibly misunderstood. About the only thing that can be said is the Oscar nomination Pacino received - other than that it is rarely discussed and didn't make much of a fuss when it came out.

Pacino is over-the-top but to good effect as he's clearly having loads of fun. Beatty is great as Dick Tracy and behind the camera manages to capture the atmosphere of a film noir comic book better than any other film, possibly, I have ever seen. Just taking a look at one scene from the film is breathtaking. The lighting, velvet overtones and smog/smoke combine to create a great effect.

There are some really funny cameos including one by Dustin Hoffman as "Mumbles," and I don't think there are any flaws at all in terms of acting - even the mandatory kid-character is far better than expected.

Overall, a really fine movie that has become misunderstood over the years since its release and is incredibly underrated with only 5.7/10 average on IMDb. The critics' reviews are very positive (check out RottenTomatoes.com) and after seeing the film once again it's not hard to see why - this is a perfect example of capturing the essence of a comic book, from style to eccentricity.

Highly recommended. 4.5/5 stars.

I thoroughly enjoyed this true to form take on the Dick Tracy persona. This is a well done product that used modern technology to craft a imagery filled comic era story. If you are a fan of or recently watched some of the old Dick Tracy b&w movies then you're sure to get a kick out of this rendition. The pastel colors and larger than life characters rendered in a painstakingly authentic take on an era gone by is entertainment as it's meant to be. I personally find Madonna's musical element to be a major part of this film-the CD featuring her music from this movie is one I've listened to often over the years, it's just so well done and performed musically and tuned to that era. In my mind, Madonna's finest moment both on-screen but especially musically. This is sure to bring out the "kid" in you.

This is a marvelous film. Warren Beatty managed to film it just like a comic book MIGHT be brought to film with humourously grotesque and bizarre characters, beautiful colours, and a plot that really only could have come from a comic book. The buildings, set design, make-up, and props are like nothing I have ever seen in film before. Now, never having read the original strip leaves me out as far as making probably very insightful comparisons with this film and the original source. That being said, I think that Beatty, although drastically changing some of the villains in the film to fit smaller roles, tried to keep the spirit of the film inside the comic strip. Does that make sense? Probably not. Anyway, Dick Tracy offers a lot. It is a visual feast with a decent story and some prime time stars doing some things you may not expect from them. Beatty is very good as the lawmen, but much of the supporting cast steals many scenes from him. Al Pacino as Big Boy Caprice is sensational as an over-the-top thug out to get every criminal under his control, while he intermittenly quotes folks like Nietchze, Jefferson, and other historical figures. Dustin Hoffman as Mumbles is wonderful - if you can finally figure out that it is him(notice in the scene where a stenographer is taking down what he says((That is Oscar winner Kathy Bates!))). James Caan has a brief yet good scene with Pacino Godfather style and Beatty gives Michael J. Pollard and Estelle Parsons cameos as well(both co-starring with him in Bonnie and Clyde). Then there is Madonna. She tries her best to live up to her name of Breathless and does a VERY credible job at it. And then of course there is the music of Stephen Sondheim, an Oscar winner for this film. It is very good and in some ways more memorable than much of what goes on in the film. Perhaps a song here or there might have been cut, but for the most part the music greatly added to the overall effects created in the film. Is Dick Tracy great? No, but it is a whole lot better than it is generally given credit for. In some ways its innovation must be reviewed again. I think that for its type of film it is one of the best.