Harper
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Movie Reviews of Harper
Movie Review: Harper - The Private Eye returns !
Summary: 4 Stars
"Harper" with Paul Newman is a great way to spend a quick 2 hours. Newman is surrounded by a great cast that includes Robert Wagner ( A very good role for him.) , Shelly Winters, Robert Webber, Julie Harris, Janet Leigh, Strother Martin, and Lauren Bacall. The screenplay, the first written by 2 time Oscar winner, William Goldman, is witty and fast paced. Some of the characters are quirky but the movie is fun to watch.
I am a fan of the private eye films of Bogart, William Powell, Dick Powell, and so many others. For years, no Hollywood studios made a private eye film. The studios felt the private eye movie was "old hat". "Harper" marks the return of the private eye movie.
Enjoy !!
Movie Review: Paul Newman's Lew Harper
Summary: 4 Stars
Harper's a good movie, but by no means Newman's best. His fans will love it, though, and Pamela Tiffin's presence doesn't hurt.Movie Review: Slightly above average...slightly.
Summary: 3 Stars
So, at some point in the sixties either the people who watched films or the people who made them grew tired of the same film-noir/detective films that had been around for ages featuring stars like Humphrey Bogart. As a result, the detective movie changed, and the focus was more on making the lead character cool or funny or tough. Some of these new films were good (the absolute best is Robert Altman's "The Long Goodbye" with Elliott Gould), some were not so good, and some were just in the middle. "Harper" falls in the middle.
The basic premise is that you have a private investigator, played by Paul Newman, who's hired to find a cheating husband, but when he starts digging around he find the husband isn't off with a mistress--he's actually been kidnapped. Eventually Newman gets mixed up with a bunch of shady characters (a gigolo, a drug addict, a washed up actress, a shaman, etc.) and a plot to smuggle migrant workers across the border from Mexico.
The plot is this type of movie is always convoluted. "The Big Sleep," is one of the best detective films ever made, yet there are large plot holes. What really makes the movie worth seeing is whether or not the stars can keep you entertained. "The Third Man" had Orson Welles in a key role. "The Maltese Falcon," had Humphrey Bogart.
This movie has no shortage of stars--Paul Newman, a young Robert Wagner, Janet Leigh, Shelley Winters. They even cast an aging Lauren Bacall--perhaps as a nod to the old Bogart-Bacall films. But the movie still seems to fall a little flat. Wagner is good, and Newman is good at times, but this performance isn't one of his best and the film is barely remembered for a reason.
Overall, the story is enough to keep you interested and there are several laughs, but you'll forget this one a month after you see it.
Movie Review: The critics acclaimed Newman as the new Bogart...
Summary: 3 Stars
The film opens with Lew Harper, unshaven and gradually awakening from a hangover... He puts his head under a faucet, attempts to make coffee but finds none left, and dispiritedly takes yesterday's grounds from the garbage and makes a perfect1y terrible cup of coffee... At once we get Harper's image as an antihero detective without any illusions...
As he is commissioned by Lauren Bacall to trace her wealthy husband who has been kidnapped, the details are filled in: he's tough, ironic, cool, unpleasant and repugnant... Although occasionally given to a moment of sensitivity or remorse, he's most1y sadistic and exploitative...
Harper is a loner, with an air of detachment and an ability to dispatch opponents with a fist and a flippant remark... He swings into action only mechanically... He chews gum constantly, looks around in an uninteresting manner, makes little disapproving gestures, laughs in total disregards, and smiles mischievously...
Harper's dealings with women are based exclusively on coldness, deception and sexual exploitation... He is estranged from his wife and would like to renew his marriage...
Movie Review: Paul Newman is ice cool in Harper
Summary: 3 Stars
This is an interesting film. Newman plays Lew Harper who is kind of like a groovy 60's version of Phillip Marlowe; sardonic, tough, irresistable to women. While the movie is dated and sexist, it is well worth viewing, not just for Newman's charismatic performance but for some brilliant supporting roles. Janet Leigh plays his bitter estranged wife, Shelley Winters is poignant as a sloppy barroom slattern, Robert Wagner is a breezy, easy and amoral but hides an unexpected secret. Best of all is Lauren Bacall who purrs, growls and hisses in a scene stealing performance as the cynical woman who enlists Harper's services. Not a perfect movie but immensely entertaining.