A spectacular movie whose technical achievements -- notably the sharp editing -- will surely provide a gauge by which subsequent comic strip films are judged.
Dick Tracy (1990)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:36
Fresh:24
Rotten:12
Average Rating:5.8/10
Consensus: Dick Tracy is stylish, unique, and an undeniable technical triumph, but it ultimately struggles to rise above its two-dimensional artificiality.
Runtime: 1 hr 45 mins
Genre: Action/Adventure
Synopsis: Warren Beatty directs and stars in this lavish adaptation of Chester Gould's famous comic strip. Against a stylized and solid color backdrop of 1930s Chicago, straight-laced, square-jawed,... Warren Beatty directs and stars in this lavish adaptation of Chester Gould's famous comic strip. Against a stylized and solid color backdrop of 1930s Chicago, straight-laced, square-jawed, detective hero Dick Tracy battles gangster Big Boy Caprice -- and temptation in the form of blonde bombshell Breathless Mahoney. Dick's long-time girlfriend Tess Trueheart and a feisty street urchin are on hand to offer support. With songs by Stephen Sondheim, Madonna as Breathless Mahoney, and a vast array of cartoon villains -- Mumbles, Pruneface, Lips, Flattop -- brought to life by a glittering cast of stars. [More]
Starring: Warren Beatty, Madonna, Glenne Headly, Al Pacino
Starring: Warren Beatty, Madonna, Glenne Headly, Al Pacino, Charlie Korsmo, Mandy Patinkin, Dick Van Dyke, William Forsythe, Charles Durning, R.G. Armstrong, Estelle Parsons, Kathy Bates, James Caan, Michael J. Pollard, Dustin Hoffman
Director: Warren Beatty
Director: Warren Beatty
Reviews for Dick Tracy
It's fun spotting stars under cakes of make-up and the panache, great supporting cast and good-natured, old-fashioned feel make for a better movie than you remember.
Tracy is Tinseltown's annual celebration of everything that's wrong with itself: the hype, the agent-negotiated star system, the Hollywood 'fun' assembly-line method of copy-cat mediocrity, etc.
This has an appealing two-dimensional comic-book look, but lacks the vision to go with it, not to mention an interesting hero or a feeling for action.
For all its superficial pleasures, Dick Tracy ultimately flounders because it provides an audience with nothing to take home and dream about.
Dick Tracy is Batman in a fedora -- a much-ballyhooed cartoon noir that's as skimpy on substance as it is burgeoning with jujube-colored, jutt-jawed style.
In sheer visual terms, this is the most convincing of the comic book movies that have been popular for the last decade or so.
On the whole Dick Tracy is a lot of fun, and fans of the offbeat may embrace it as a unique film amid a sea of movies that seem cloned from each other.
Latest News for Dick Tracy
August 17, 2006:
Burton & Depp Together for the 6th Time: Sweeney Todd
When Tim Burton and Johnny Depp get together, pretty wild movies tend to happen. Frankly I think all five of their previous collaborations have been darn fine films, and here's... More...
July 20, 2006:
Beatty Takes Dick (Tracy) Trouble to Court
Apparently Warren Beatty is intent on making a sequel to "Dick Tracy," even if he has to sue someone to get it done. A recent court ruling stated that the suit could... More...
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