The city is evil. "Chicago Blues" (originally translated as "Big City") is nothing more than an attempt to reconnect actors Matt Dillon and Diane Lane. Both of them are the finds of Francis Ford Coppola himself, both of them in 1983 (" Chicago Blues came out four years later) the great director shot in his conditional youth crime dilogy, consisting of "Fight Fish" and "Rogue". And the Chicago Blues, apart from two Coppola actors, is a lot like Fightfish. No, not according to the plot plan, there the differences immediately catch your eye and confuse the action seems impossible, but the external color, the manner of presentation of information, the expressiveness of streamlined forms and, in the end, the fact that they are both filmed on black and white film suggest plagiarism. But, of course, plagiarism is said too loudly, but still certain similarities are too noticeable.
But for now, the plot of the picture. Young and very lucky dice player Cullen (Matt Dillon) lives in his small town, where he is happy in his own way, and his amazing gift as a player helps not to think about money. But, as always, they become few and his former mentor brings Cullen to Chicago, the famous city of gangsters. There, a strange couple (Lee Grant and Bruce Dern) give him money that Cullen never dreamed of, but stipulate that he will have to “unwind” them a percentage of the winning dice game. Cullen, who had the light of a carefree and rich existence, sparkled his eyes and now he becomes a frequent guest of the underground casino at a certain George Cole (Tommy Lee Jones). But the gambling world does not like upstarts and favorites of fortune and Cullen is already obliquely looked at, and here he still allowed himself an affair with Cole's wife Lorrie (Diane Lane). It would seem that the punishment of the presumptuous young man is a matter of time ...
Writer Clark Howard, who wrote the novel “Chicago blues” (adapted to the film adaptation was engaged in Robert Roy Poole), clearly deduced his work to the famous expression “The higher you soar, the more painful you fall.” In our case, Cullen didn't crash, but he hurt himself sensitively. It seemed to him that the whole world was in front of him, he allowed himself careless actions, for which, in general, he paid. Based on this, I want to say that the above story does not reveal many more vicissitudes of Cullen’s life in Chicago. You might remember the German metaphor in Brother when he said, "The city is an evil force." This expression can also be attributed to the Chicago Blues. Returning to the effect produced by the technical side of the film, then, as mentioned above, too much catches the eye of the distinct homage “Fight Fish”. Shot in the neonoir style, the picture “Chicago Blues” resembles a rare symbiosis of neonoir with retro style. And I must say that the experienced cameraman Ralph D. Bode on a high note coped with the task. And the entourage corresponds to the purpose of the picture. Plus, this method allows the viewer to dive as close as possible into the atmosphere of Chicago post-gangster period.
If you watch the movie “Chicago Blues”, you are somewhat puzzled about how the career of Matt Dillon in the late 90s began to give slips. The actor had everything: youth, beautiful appearance, talent, and the fact that he is a creation of Francis Ford Coppola himself gives him a certain authority. In “Chicago Blues” he successfully managed to embody the role of a man in front of whom great opportunities opened up, but a foggy head led to a strong shock (watch the finale of the film and you will perfectly understand what I am talking about), but you can bring another metaphor “What does not kill us, makes us stronger”, and to the end of the picture his hero finally makes the right step, so we can say that he was waiting, albeit sad, but happy ending. Diane Lane was impressed in this film. At first, a beautiful girl, offended by her husband’s behavior, but when the climax comes, you are either stunned or angry. Agree that to achieve emotions in the audience is the first task of any actor and Diane Lane did it. A great role, despite the attitude towards her character. Tommy Lee Jones isn't bad, but I can't say more. And I want to mention Suzie Amis, whose heroine is the only one living in the present and not flying in the clouds.
Not the worst representative of the films of the criminal-dramatic concept with an expressive play of actors, where their characters, I must say, are far from trivial. It is worth commending for the complex from a technical point of view, the chosen style of the film, where the operator of the tape is always at the forefront and the operator of the Chicago Blues coped with his task. If you like Coppola tapes “Rogue” and “Fighting Fish”, then “Chicago Blues” do not use the occasion and look.
7 out of 10