The Postman Always Rings Twice [DVD] [1981]

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Editorial reviews

Amazon.co.uk Review
In iThe Postman Always Rings Twice/i, Jack Nicholson teamed up again with his iFive Easy Pieces/i and iKing of Marvin Gardens/i director Bob Rafelson for this 1981 version of James M. Cain's hardboiled novel of lust and murder. This version takes a much grittier (and sexually explicit) approach to the material than the slick 1946 MGM version starring John Garfield and Lana Turner. Nicholson plays Frank Chambers, a drifter who happens upon a roadside diner run by Cora Papadakis (Jessica Lange) and her swarthy Greek husband, Nick (John Colicos). Sparks fly, and before you can say il'amour fou/i, Frank and Cora are making the beast with two backs on the kitchen table. One thing leads to another and they conspire to murder Nick. The movie is still a little too cold and distant to fully convey a hot-blooded passion that leads to murder, but it is a strangely haunting and disturbing film nevertheless. The screenplay is by David Mamet, the photography is by the great Sven Nykvist (Ingmar Bergman's cinematographer), and watch for Anjelica Huston in a supporting role. i--Jim Emerson/i

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Customer reviews

review by: date: 2008-08-16 rating:
The more I watch this film the more I am compelled to admire it.
This is not the sort of film I like to watch and the first time I saw it it left a bad taste in my mouth and even made me bad-tempered. Except for the sex scene in the kitchen that is. That left me feeling awe and admiration. I was convinced from the start that here was one of the finest things ever seen on film - a ten minute work of art in itself, comparable, on different grounds, to anything that Manny Farber had ever singled out from it's context. br /Since then I have been compelled to admire the sheer craftsmanship with which the film is put together - it's tone, texture, pace, editing, acting, everything. br /Anyone reasonably versed in literature could hardly fail to recognise that this is a re-working of 'Macbeth' and 'Therese Raquin' with the new background for the Tragedy of 30's America. And this is a Tragedy but it is not so much a tragedy of particular individuals, we feel, as a tragedy, somehow, of humanity in general. Well actually I think I know a little of how that 'somehow' works: it's down to that sex scene in the kitchen and it's sheer human/godlike mixture of weakness/grandeur which achieves the sort of grand pathos that 'Gladiator' aims for in the early battle scene and it's 'musical conclusion'. That scene, I mean the one with Lange and Nicholson, lingers with us for the rest of the film as they go through the all too fallible and human consequences of that experience. br /The film still leaves me with a bad taste in the mouth but I now accept that as part of the truth of this film. Now it leaves me slightly perplexed as to how to place this film in my personal scheme of things. br / br /Perhaps I should mention that this DVD is an old release and not in a wide-screen ratio and so cannot be seen in it's full integrity. Resolution suffers of course when watched in wide screen zoom mode. Buy it anyway. Prove that your good taste needed to be at least partially satisfied with what is available for the time being. We can look forward to it's eventual presentation in it's full vividness and intensity on BluRay.

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review by: date: 2004-02-28 rating:
Underwhelming
THE POSTMAN ALWAYS RINGS TWICE (1981) serves as a cautionary lesson to anyone who's considering renting or buying a film on the strength of its starring leads, and then proceeds to plunk down pounds after asking the rhetorical question, "With that cast, how bad can it be?"pJack Nicholson is drifter Frank Chambers, who washes up in a rural roadhouse run by Nick Papadakis (John Colicos) and his too young (for him) wife, Cora (Jessica Lange). The time is the 1930s, and the place somewhere in the coastal mountains between Los Angeles and San Francisco. After Chambers is employed by Nick as a mechanic in the outpost's garage, Frank and Cora soon ignite a spark of mutual lust that eventually spreads into a conflagration of betrayal, attempted murder, murder, violent sex, insurance company venality, blackmail, and bad driving.pThere's a good story here somewhere, so how did it go so badly wrong? Most damaging, there's no likable character for the audience to champion. Nicholson's character is as sleazy and vicious as any role he's ever done. Cora, married to an unsuitable older man for reasons we never learn, initially gains some audience compassion, perhaps. But then, after she demonstrates a cold-bloodedness worthy even of Frank, I ceased sympathizing with the character. Of the lot, only Nick is blameless, but he's such an old fool that it's hard to care.pThe supporting cast is no better. The award for Worst Performance In A Negligible Role (Female) has to go to Anjelica Huston as Madge, a lion tamer and manager of a traveling wild cat show, who sports a goofy accent and hairdo worthy of Natasha (of "Boris and Natasha" on the old Bullwinkle TV series). The same award for a male actor is due William Traylor as Sackett, the Los Angeles DA out to nail our heroic couple.pThere are only three reasons to view this film. First, if you're a diehard Nicholson fan. I'm not. Second, if you're a diehard Lange fan. I am. But, while she's undeniably gorgeous and indulges in tempestuous sex that would make my Mom blush and fuels my personal fantasies, prurient interest isn't enough to carry the day. Lastly, the scenery surrounding the roadhouse is beautifully pastoral.pI haven't seen the 1946 release of THE POSTMAN ALWAYS RINGS TWICE, nor do I intend to because Jessica isn't in it. This 1981 version is over-acted, over-scripted, under-edited, and implausible. It's just silly in a lurid sort of way.


review by: date: 2001-07-30 rating:
You can't do a Film Noir in colour
At the time of its release this film attracted considerable notoriety for its explicit sex-on-the-kitchen table scene. Apart from that, this is a pretty unmemorable film, although it's hard to fault the performances of either Jack Nicholson or Jessica Lange. You could put it down to a lack of 'chemistry' between the two stars, but in my opinion it's simply that a story such as this deserves to be told in moody black-and-white.pIn the early 1980's there was a minor Hollywood craze for remaking classic 'film noir' movies from the late 1940's. This film (like 'Cat People', whch came out at about the same time) was not a bad film, but its main achievement was to remind everyone how good the original film was.

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Similar categories

Video . DVD Blu-ray . Categories . Drama
Video . DVD Blu-ray . Categories . Crime, Thrillers Mystery . All Crime, Thrillers Mystery
Video . DVD Blu-ray . Refinements . Format (binding_browse-bin) . DVD
Video . DVD Blu-ray . Refinements . BBFC Rating (intended_use_browse-bin) . 18
Video . DVD Blu-ray . Refinements . Editions (feature_two_browse-bin) . Standard Edition
Video . DVD Blu-ray . Refinements . Region(feature_browse-bin) . Region 2
Video . DVD Blu-ray . Refinements . Release Date (feature_three_browse-bin) . 1980 - 1989
Video . DVD Blu-ray . Refinements . Language (theme_browse-bin) . English

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