Get Carter (1971)

Nice effects though.

This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

Blistering performances.

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

I'm sorry but I must have missed the boat on this one. One of the worst movies ever made. Not just M. Caine movies (I like them all and expexcted more) but one of the worst movies I have ever seen. A waste of time and talent. That's two hours I'll never get back.

Often hailed as a classic of the gangster genre, perhaps 'Get Carter (1971)' was 'groundbreaking' initially because of its cold and callous depiction of both its central character and the criminals he essentially calls his co-workers. It hasn't aged too well, though, with many misogynistic moments and a general poor treatment of women coming up too often to be considered just unfortunate 'by-products of its time'. It is also incredibly dull, attempting to be a slow-burning thriller but instead just being slow. There is a proper nastiness to the picture, a pulpy heart beating underneath its calm and collected exterior, but this often comes across as ever-so-slightly 'glamorised' even if Carter himself isn't really considered a 'hero'. It's in its seedier side that it finds its most success and, somewhat paradoxically, its most failure. While there's a sense of violence begetting violence and criminality spreading to even the most innocent like a corrosive virus, there's also a sense that the movie revels in its depiction of these elements (especially those that concern its female characters) even as it condemns them, to a bizarre and often off-putting result. Its biggest issue, however, is that it isn't ever entertaining. 5/10

Michael Caine plays the most despicable character of his entire career in freshman director Mike Hodges' "Get Carter," a violent, cynical, sex-laden crime melodrama that wallows in the unsavory British underworld. As the eponymous character, the "Alfie" star is an armed and dangerous torpedo in the London crime world. Unfortunately, he has learned that his brother Frank has been killed up north in Jack Carter's hometown, and he plans to get to the bottom of the scummy barrel and learn who murdered his brother. Along the way, our fair-haired but savage hero discovers that his brother's daughter has been recruited for a short porno movie. If Carter had it in for the Newcastle mob when he arrived to unravel the mystery of his brother's demise, he goes totally ballistic after he watches the porno. Our stalwart protagonist holds off the Northern mob until they hire a long-range sniper who eliminates our hero with a bullet to the head. By the time that Jack Carter sprawls dead in the shore, he has shattered the Newcastle mob. Basically, "Get Carter" is a crime versus crime saga, with the standard-issue "crime doesn't pay" message. Caine is electrifying as London gangster on the rampage. Hodges directs this gritty thriller with verve and ingenuity. The way that Hodges and "Italian Job" editor John Trumper cross-cut a sex scene between Carter and a woman with the woman driving a gear-shifting car is nothing short of brilliant. The scene where Carter ushers two rival thugs off his premises with a double-barreled shotgun and nary a stitch on is fantastic. The scene where Carter stashes Glenda in the trunk of her Sunbeam sports car and cruises around town gets the most horrifying payoff when those rival thugs push the car into the river. Of course, Glenda is still inside the trunk. "Get Carter" qualifies as an unforgettable British gangster movie.

I watched this recently as it is a well-known British classic thriller. As with a lot of these older films (made in '71) the sound quality wasn't great. That slightly spoiled my enjoyment of the film.If I was to choose a soundtrack that complemented a film perfectly, I would choose the Get Carter theme. The tune opens the film with a solo played on a harpsichord (I think) which evokes a sense of disaffection, and then in the film we arrive by train at a industrial wasteland that is Newcastle in the 1970's. Also a bass guitar is playing a groovy riff in background, and that is after we have witnessed in the film gangsters enjoying a porn film. The music sets up the film perfectly.It has been a while since I watched this film. It certainly reminded me of classic 70s TV programmes like The Sweeney and Play for Today. Gritty, sleazy and with a aftertaste of poverty. Looking back at it though it's quite a straightforward revenge flick. There isn't much character development for Michael Caine as Carter, but he is still good in a quiet, reserved performance.One surprise for me was that the film starred the famous English playwright John Osborne as one of the northern gangsters (Cyril). He is famous for writing plays such as Look Back in Anger. There is northern twist to this film with the backdrop of austerity in Newcastle played against the rich London gangster. Hands full of pound notes and drinking beer out of a straight glass. This brings an added interest to the film. I really thought the setting of the film is one of the most enjoyable parts of it, and alongside the haunting music really captures your interest more than it would in another location.If you want to recapture life in Britain in the 1970's you will love this movie, and it has some of the best British actors in it like Caine and Ian Hendry. The film starts fairly positively for Carter and then descends gradually into hell as he seeks more and more revenge. In the end there is no good guys left including Carter. I gave it a 6/10 because I felt it could have developed the character's back story a bit more, but it is one of those films that stays in your head long after the film ends.