Death Wise

Death Wish (1974)
Director: Michael Winner
Cast:  Charles Bronson, Hope Lange, Vincent Gardenia
Memorable Line:  " In the city, that's the way it is."

Death Wish is one of the movies that I had avoided watching for years.  Upon finally seeing it, I can say that it did exceed my expectations, but not necessarily in game changing way.

 

The Plot of Death Wish

Paul Kersey (Bronson) is a guy who has it all -- a good job, a great wife and family, and he lives in New York city.  That all comes to an end when his wife (Lange) and daughter are assaulted by thugs with the wife dying from the attack and the daughter being traumatized.   

Up until these horrible events, Kersey was a peaceful man who had a "live and let live" existence.  After his wife's death, he finds his life irreparably changed and his approach to life altered.  When the police admit that there is little chance of finding the attackers, Kersey takes the law into his own hands and starts prowling the streets in search of the criminals.  The only problem is that he's quite indiscriminate in who he exacts revenge on -- any criminal will do.  

The more he patrols and the more criminals he takes out, the more he likes it, but there's also a deeper force driving him -- a death wish because without his wife and family intact, he doesn't have a lot to live for.

The real problems comes as his exploits start to get press and public support explodes.  The police can't have a vigilante running around killing criminals.  Or can it?

The police detective (Gardenia) in charge of finding the vigilante is struck with taking down a very popular vigilante and bringing down public wrath or doing nothing.  Doing nothing isn't an option.  And Kersey will just keep on killing until he dies or the police stop him.

The Performances, Writing, and Direction of Death Wish

Bronson is quite stoic in his performance, but it does seem fitting to his character.  Gardenia has a juicy role as the crusty NYPD detective who must find and confront the vigilante.  The rest of the roles seem to fall into the background against the plot, although you can see Jeff Goldblum as "Freak #1" and Christopher Guest in another small role.

The script was much smarter than I had expected.  The cat and mouse game between Kersey, the criminals and the police is very engaging and more layers than I thought it would be.  I particularly was intrigued by the political relations dilemma the cops find themselves facing which makes the movie much more engaging than just a vigilante picture.

The direction is workman like without a lot of frills.  There's a rough edge to the look and fill that seem to fit the picture.  

Summary Judgment on Death Wish

Death Wish is a smarter film than I had expected, but it's still not with out a base and basic appeal of the revenge flick.  Death Wish isn't art and it's not really a intellectual treatise, but there's more here than meets the eye.