Dick Tracy (1990)

John Chard

7.0

Mar 12, 2014

A bit too mellow yellow. Dick Tracy is directed by Warren Beatty and written by Jim Cash and Jack Epps Jr. Based on Chester Gould’s comic strip creation of the same name, it stars Beatty, Al Pacino, Madonna, Glenne Headly, Dustin Hoffman, Charlie Korsmo, Charles Durning and William Forsythe. Music is by Danny Elfman, with songs by Stephen Sondheim, and cinematography is by Vittorio Storaro. Punk Rock band X-Ray Spex once sang about The Day The World Turned Day-Glo, Warren Beatty’s Dick Tracy was exactly that. The live action cartoon is a feast for the eyes, as the city backdrop for this…

I'm heartily disappointed that this didn't produce sequels. If any fine actor/director of the period was perfect for the role of Dick Tracy, it was Beatty. He does very good work here. It's as if he took Tim Burton's template for 'Batman' and simply adjusted it for his comic-book picture. Madonna isn't bad here either, simply because she's pretending to be Marilyn Monroe, something she'd been wanting to do all of her career to that point. And the rogues gallery here is perhaps second in quality only to the aforementioned DC Caped Crusader. In retrospect, that perhaps was the picture's weakest…

CinemaSerf

6.0

Feb 9, 2025

Debonair and brightly clad detective “Dick Tracy” (Warren Beatty) is out to stop an all out war breaking out in the city after mobster “Big Boy” (Al Pacino) slays “Lips” (Paul Sorvino) with a view to running the whole show. Part of that cunning plan is to unite all the criminal fraternities and get rid of this pesky cop. Meantime, “Tracy” alights on the permanently hungry “Kid” (Charlie Korsmo) whom he has to look after as well as his girlfriend “Tess” (Glenne Headly) as the bullets fly and things become seriously perilous for all three of them. He’s also got to figure out just what angle nigh…