Review of The Bedford Incident

The film contains one (or more) of the great character studies of its period--and indeed, is one of the few films that can sustain itself principally on character interaction, irrespective of plot (and the plot itself builds steady tension, a la Hunt for Red October). The pacing is brilliant, the acting is top-shelf, the claustrophobic shipboard mood is electrifying, the escalating, multi-tiered sense of confrontation between the key characters is riveting, and the payoff--though admittedly predictable, by the time you get there--is effective and unnerving nevertheless, especially if one is able to toggle back to the Cold War mentality that birthed this film.

I too was a bit put off by the studied and self-conscious Widmark reactions at two or three points in the film--the tactic becomes a well to which Widmark/Lumet go back at least twice too often (the last time, I found myself almost wanting to scream, "We GET it!"). But that's a very small price to pay for the overall cinematic genius (not too strong a word) of this movie. The script alone--in particular the climactic riposte Portman delivers unto the increasingly pathological Widmark towards the end of the film--is a masterwork rivaled by few other films of the era (or any era, for that matter). If you've seen the film, you know the line to which I'm referring. If you haven't seen the film, do yourself a favor and rectify that shortcoming.