1st watched 4/27/2009 - (Dir-Fred Zinnemann): Well written and played post-World War II drama that's really about the effect of the war on two veterans due to an act of betrayal that occurred during the event. Both characters, played by Van Heflin and Robert Ryan, are struggling with the event and dealing with it in different ways. Van Heflin's character is a vet who has settled in life by ignoring the act and living his life. Robert Ryan's character has been carrying it with him since leaving the war and plans on acting on his emotions. The Robert Ryan character initially appears to be the enemy of the story, but as things are revealed we understand that Heflin's character ratted on the rest of the group in a nazi war prison and Ryan's character is out to get him for it. The appeal of the movie then is trying to figure out who is the good guy and who is the bad guy. The movie is structured like a typical chase movie but we are shown other characters and how they react to the main characters(primarily the women counterparts). The story then becomes a drama about what was right and what was wrong during war, and can those things be looked at in the same light during civilian times. This is probably the first movie I've seen dealing with this war on a serious level as far as those who we're in it and affected by it. The movie keeps your interested to the very end, not just on a psychological level but also as a mystery. This is a very unique movie that should be viewed by many others and I'm just surprised that I just fell into it at my local library without hearing much about it. So watch it,if you can, you will definitely be rewarded.
Review of Act of Violence
