Giuppi's Movie Reviews

Angie Dickinson made her breakthrough in 1956 with the film Gun the Man Down . Her career was more prolific in television (she received multiple Emmy nominations) than in cinema, where she was often relegated to paper-thin, even sexist roles (looking at you, Rio Bravo ). That was up until 1980, when she was cast in Brian De Palma's erotic thriller Dressed to Kill . The movie is generally held in high esteem nowadays, though there are actually many faults to be found in it. But it is an interesting view, and it offers Dickinson the chance to deliver the best performance of her career. And she does. Dickinson plays Kate Miller, a sexually frustrated housewife. The film opens with Kate's dream in which she masturbates in the shower before being murdered by a masked killer. Is it a gratuitous, needless scene? Perhaps. But Dickinson digs deep into Kate's loneliness and gives the character a painful depth another actress might have missed. In the morning, she confesses her...

Lou Pascal (Burt Lancaster) is an aging former gangster who lives in Atlantic City. He runs numbers in poor areas of the city and he is financially supported by Grace (Kate Reid), the widow of his former boss and a faded beauty queen for whom he acts as a caretaker. Lou is obsessed with Sally (Susan Sarandon), a young waitress who lives in the same building: every morning, he watches her from his window as she rubs herself with lemon juice to get rid of the smell of fish. Sally dreams of becoming a croupier and living in Monte Carlo, but first she has to deal with the unexpected return of her estranged husband Dave (Robert Joy) and her pregnant sister Chrissie (Hollis McLaren), with whom he had ran away. Dave crosses paths with Lou and convinces him to help him sell a large amount of cocaine he had stolen in Philadelphia. But the mobsters are looking for him and they are not far behind. The story of Atlantic City is well-constructed, compelling and captivating - but the plot i...