Casablanca

a film directed by Michael Curtiz

review written by jack floobles

January 13, 2010

Casablanca might be the perfect movie. What other movie so perfectly combines romance, action, intrigue and war? Set during WWII, it focuses on Rick (played by Humphrey Bogart), a man torn between his passionate love for a woman and his desire to see her safe. The movie is infamous. Even if you haven't seen it, you've probably heard lines from the movie; you probably know the song "As Time Goes By". Who knows the quote, "Play it again, Sam"? Immediately, you think of Casablanca. Ironic, since the quote never once appears in the movie itself. Don't believe me? Go back and watch it again.

What's most surprising about the film isn't that it was so successful and such a perfectly made film but that the people making it never expected much to come of it. Though the movie featured many A-list stars of the time, it was just one of dozens of movies being churned out by the studio at the time. No one was thinking "classic" when they were working on the set. No one was thinking that more than 60 years after it was filmed, people would still be calling it a great film.

The film could have been a disaster. Many writers contributed to the script. They were editing and revising the script minutes before the director called "action". Despite the many writers and the many different approaches, Roger Ebert labeled Casablanca with a script that is "wonderfully unified and consistent". And it is, from start to finish, the movie never steers us wrong. There's never a slow scene. There's never any time you're bored.

And the acting...what can one say about the acting in Casablanca? The chemistry between Bergman and Bogie is pitch perfect. You don't doubt for a minute the love they have for one another. And the moment Bergman walks onto the screen is breathtaking. She's gorgeous. Perfectly lit. Perfectly beautiful. If you're watching her, you're falling in love with her, and you know exactly why Rick loves her too.

Of course, no review of Casablanca would be completely with discussing the music. "As Time Goes By" is one of the best songs ever written for a movie, even if the musical director had hoped to replace the song with his own composition. Luckily, the scenes with Bergman listening to Sam play the piano had already been shot and since the filming, her hair had been cut short, leaving the director no choice but to leave the songs in as is. Could any other song have been as perfect for the story? As timeless? It's difficult to imagine.

There's no good way to finish this review, so I'll leave it with this: "Play it again, Sam."

the following actors/directors were tagged in this review: