starring John Cassavetes, Sidney Poitier
directed by Martin Ritt
85 minutes
Axel Nordmann (John Cassavetes), arrives in New York City, in need of a job. He finds work but Charlie Malik, the supervisor who takes him on, doesn't make his life easy. Tommy Tyler (Sidney Poitier) offers Axel a job on his team. It takes some prodding but Axel finally accepts the offer. Charlie doesn't take kindly to Axel leaving his team and tries to strong arm him into returning.
Axel's life takes a turn for the better. Charlie can't stand to see that and applies enough pressure such that Axel contemplates quitting Tommy's team and going back to work for Charlie. Axel finally finds the strength to tell Tommy about what it is that's bothering him. Tommy does what he can to protect Axel but Charlie undoes that and Axel finds himself at yet another crossroads where he has to make a tough call, this time without any support from Tommy.
Jack Warden played the part of Charlie Malik. I've seen Warden in a number of movies and some TV shows. I can't remember the last time I saw Jack Warden play an out and out bad guy like he does here.
Ruby Dee played the part of Lucy Tyler, Tommy's wife. I've seen her in a number of movies including Buck and the Preacher (1972) and Do the Right Thing (1989).
At its heart this movie is about a man (Axel) learning to stand up for himself and acknowledge his past mistakes. Axel experiences a mixture of joy and a pain over the course of the movie. He has a checkered past and it is clear that he is scarred by past experiences.
I wouldn't call this a great movie but it is a good one. All the performances are extremely good. I did find this movie to be a little too cinematic. It felt like it was going big when it didn't need to. It wanted to wrap up everything neatly with a bow and I don't think it needed to do that.
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