Harper
The Paul Newman Collection
Paul Newman is Harper, a cynical private eye in the best tradition of Bogart. He even has Bogie's Baby (Lauren Bacall) hiring him to find her missing husband, getting involved along the way with an assortment of unsavory characters and an illegal-alien smuggling ring.
Member Reviews
Blah - Katisha
Newman was so much better than most of the rest of this film. Well, Shelley Winters was pretty good, too. The story was just stupid and way too long. Robert Wagner was like a cardboard cutout compared to Newman. Their scenes together were like the gait of a man with a nail in his shoe.I still gave it three stars, anyway - Picker_of_Movies
The twists are not that twisted. Plot is thin. No style to speak of (for 'Film Noir' there ought to be some style. PS I found Harper in Zip's noir section.) Newman is too good looking for this role. And calling Robert Wagner "pretty" didn't help.
Every once in a while Newman shines through the script and supporting actors. I got the impression he was ad libbing. Bacall was very good but also very briefly on the screen.
If you skip this movie you won't miss too much. I saw this shortly after watching Chinatown and The Last Seduction. Both are far better movies.Has Not Aged Well - Mookie
Hard nosed detective tries to solve a kidnapping case. Wow, was that story contrived. Right about the time the weird priest is found smuggling Mexicans into the US and the junkie piano player murders her friend you realize that the writer has no idea of how to write a story that makes sense. Now I know this type of detective story is mainly about that (twists and turns) but these twists weren't that interesting (or understandable) and it was hard to see why Harper was such a great detective.
William Goldman the writer, in my opinion, has written excellent books on his experiences as a screen writer but is a very hit or miss screen writer himself. Aside from Princess Bride and maybe Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid I haven't enjoyed his films very much.
Paul Newman is excellent - but the story isn't.
Member Reviews
Read All...
Blah - Katisha
Newman was so much better than most of the rest of this film. Well, Shelley Winters was pretty good, too. The story was just stupid and way too long. Robert Wagner was like a cardboard cutout compared to Newman. Their scenes together were like the gait ...I still gave it three stars, anyway - Picker_of_Movies
The twists are not that twisted. Plot is thin. No style to speak of (for 'Film Noir' there ought to be some style. PS I found Harper in Zip's noir section.) Newman is too good looking for this role. And calling Robert Wagner "pretty" didn't help.
Every ...Has Not Aged Well - Mookie
Hard nosed detective tries to solve a kidnapping case. Wow, was that story contrived. Right about the time the weird priest is found smuggling Mexicans into the US and the junkie piano player murders her friend you realize that the writer has no idea of how ...