The Set-Up
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Movie Reviews of The Set-Up
Movie Review: A Boxing Classic
Summary: 5 Stars
This is a great movie, noir or boxing, period. I was surprised that this grungy film was directed by Robert"Sound of Music" Wise. The acting is uniformly great, even though I don't know the names of the character actors employed here. The brutality of the fight scenes equal or surpass those in "Raging Bull". The juxtoposition of these scenes with the blood-thirsty crowd reactions are quite effective. One of the fans in the crowd is Herb Anderson who played Dennis' father on "Dennis the Menace". It's like watching Ward Cleaver at a cockfight. Most effective are the locker-room scenes where the pugilists await their fate. You have such sympathy for these punch-drunk pugilists and when you hear the sounds emanating from the ring outside the door, a sense of dread creeps up your spine. Robert Ryan excels as the fighter who has probably fought a few hundred bouts too many but whose heart tells him that he has one moment of glory left in him. It surprised me that a film like this was made at a time when boxing's popularity was at it's heighth.Movie Review: A tour de force from Robert Ryan
Summary: 5 Stars
This is a superb little film that is an icon of what is termed "film noir". It reeks atmosphere throughout. An aging boxer played brilliantly by Robert Ryan wants that last big fight and a win under his belt. His girl friend understandably does not want him to fight any more and tries in vane to persuade him not to. Unknown to Ryan the fight has been fixed with inevitable consequences. Not to spoil the ending I shall not relate any more of the story. It is the attention to detail that makes this film special, the character observation, the audience including a woman who revels in the brutality of the fight, the man who is so carried away he lives every throw of the punch. An overweight man obsessed with eating as much junk food as he is with the boxing. There is the seedy room in the "Hotel Cozy". Peeled off wallpaper and a ceiling lampshade made out of newspaper. Every detail has been so well thought out. Coupled with some enigmatic photography this gripping film is a must for film noir and boxing fansMovie Review: SUPERB FILM NOIR FROM ROBERT WISE IS A GREAT DVD!
Summary: 5 Stars
Long before television's "24", Robert Wise gave us this 1949 film-noir classic, set in "real-time" against a boxing milieu.An exceptional performance from Robert Ryan, with great support from a seasoned troupe of film favorites, THE SET-UP will have you on the edge of your seat from start to finish.
The DVD looks marvelous, the best I have ever seen of this film. It captures the essence of the RKO-noir look, and is genuinely film-like. Don't be swayed by these neophytes who negate a video transfer because it has "age-related artifacts". What hooey! Not every film has to undergo a million dollar digitization to look as good as it did when it was new, and THE SET-UP has surely never looked better!
An added treat are insightful commentary thoughts from the film's director Mr. Wise, and another legendary director who seems to like the movie. Some guy named Marty Scorsese. :)
Grab it!
Movie Review: A life in chaos
Summary: 5 Stars
Two years before ''The Day the Earth Stood Still,'' Robert Wise directed this familiar but entrancing tale of a boxer betrayed by his trainers. It's based on a long narrative poem and takes place in real time, a lean 72 minutes. Robert Ryan is the aging fighter who's ''always just one punch away.'' It's the story of ''a life in chaos -- trying to make sense of it in five rounds,'' commentator Martin Scorsese says. Wise's camera is always on the move. The film is full of wide-open faces and terrific 30-second character studies. ''Every frame counts,'' Scorsese says. ''You know you're in the hands of a true visual storyteller.'' Naturalistic and beautifully lit. Wise, who also provides commentary, says this is one of his best films. It was his last for RKO.Movie Review: The Set-Up
Summary: 5 Stars
Robert Wise's taut, bruising drama tackles the merciless world of boxing with heavy cynicism but great empathy for the men whose bodies are nothing more than bettors' chips. Ryan, a real-life college boxing champion, is exceptional playing the 35-year-old fighter--an "old man in this business," as his wife reminds him--determined to whip a mobster's punk. And Baxter, whose pinched smirk conveys a world of menace, couldn't be more sinister, especially in the crushing finale. Wise intercuts the bloody, heart-catching real-time bout (a major influence on "Raging Bull") with unflattering shots of the audience--a woman screaming for blood, an obese fellow stuffing his mouth--satirically expressing his own fury without a single word of dialogue.