Dick Tracy is a comic strip (close enough to a comic book) created by Chester Gould and first published in 1931. It's pretty easy to tell that Warren Beatty produced and directed Dick Tracy - it's the consummate Warren Beatty I am cool film. Beatty (obviously) plays Dick Tracy, who is trying to clean up crime in his city, going after Big Boy Caprice who is organizing all the criminals in town. Dick Tracy is the ultimate hero, and there couldn't be more cliche "hero" moments in this film. Just by the direction, you can tell that Beatty sets it up so that he comes off looking just plain cool.

Sharing the set with Al Pacino (Big Boy), Dustin Hoffman (Mumbles), Mandy Patinkin (88 Keys), Paul Sorvino (Lips Manless), Charles Durning (Chief Brandon) and Madonna (Breathless Mahoney), Beatty is just about the only person in this film not wearing some sort of prosthesis to deform him to look like his character does in the comic strip.

Being based on a comic strip, I was surprised at the amount of killing in this film, but according to Toonopedia, that's not far off the mark from the comic. The movie was, however, a bit racy, though I'd expect no less from a film that paired Warren Beatty and Madonna as the main players.

While the writing is horrible and the acting at its best is over-the-top, there are a number of redeeming features of the film. Set design is pretty amazing, as is the use of color. The look and feel of the film makes it one worth watching, even though it feels about 20 minutes too long.

© 2005 Jim Manchester