Clash By Night (rewatch)
Posted by martinteller on March 27, 2010
This movie is a lot better than I initially gave it credit for. Terrific dialogue, good performances, and a boiling love triangle in a melodramatic style reminiscent of Sirk. But it’s not noir, at least not in my book (more and more I’m learning that noir has a different meaning for everyone). The noir I like requires high stakes: someone’s going to get killed, or going to jail for a long, long time. Some might argue that love is the highest stake of all, and some of the best noirs use love as a lynchpin, but for me there has to be more than just romance on the line. So it’s not film noir, but it’s still pretty good. Except for the ending, which comes far, far too easily. It’d earn another point if there was more of an air of doom or doubt to it. Rating: 7
