At its best, Force achieves a style at once brutal and poetic, documentarian and noir.
100
Empire
Empire
A shining example of everything Hollywood falling into place, and a masterpiece of cinema.
100
Chicago Reader
Chicago Reader
A poetic, terse, beautifully exact, and highly personal re-creation of the American underworld, with an unpunctuated Joycean screenplay by Polonsky that is perhaps unique in the American cinema. This is film noir at its best.
100
USA TodayMike Clark
USA TodayMike Clark
Pearson's scenes with Garfield are among the most supercharged ever. [28 May 2004, p.6E]
A dynamic crime-and-punishment drama, brilliantly and broadly realized.
75
San Francisco ChronicleRuthe Stein
San Francisco ChronicleRuthe Stein
Force of Evil is a more thoughtful kind of film noir than we are used to but still employs the traditional black-and-white contrasts and shadows.
63
Slant MagazineJoseph Jon Lanthier
Slant MagazineJoseph Jon Lanthier
Garfield’s likably unlikable protagonist provides Force of Evil with a semblance of cohesiveness, even if the film often feels like the product of dueling fetishes and pet symbols.
Force of Evil fails to develop the excitement hinted at in the title. Makers apparently couldn't decide on the best way to present an expose of the numbers racket, winding up with neither fish nor fowl as far as hard-hitting racketeer meller is concerned. A poetic, almost allegorical, interpretation keeps intruding on the tougher elements of the plot. This factor adds no distinction and only makes the going tougher.