Private eye Harry Mosby (Gene Hackman) in Los Angeles is hired to bring back the daughter of a former film star and has to go to the Florida keys to get her. Melanie Griffith in her first film role as the daughter is reluctant but goes back with Mosby but there is more - a sunken treasure and a few people who make movies are involved before a surprising finale occurs. And Mosby is just as surprised as the audience every step of the way. Harry Mosby is in the tradition of an incorruptible hero in the midst of the muck.
I think that the ending could be considered optimistic, but it is open to interpretation. It's a dark film, as in "Chinatown" land, when the protagonist ends up in a boat going around in aimless circles with a flesh wound to the leg. Since Mosby and his wife have reconciled earlier in the film, I think it's fair to assume that they will try to make a go of it together, rather than ending up dead or lost, like every other character in the movie. Gene Hackman's lone foray into the private eye genre is fortuitous. Like Bogey and Paul Newman, he is especially deft at put downs of smarmy guys and gals. And Alan Sharp's generally well written screenplay gives him ample opportunity to display this skill. Arthur Penn's direction is well paced and does not draw undue attention to itself. Occasionally, the film gets a bit pretentious. For example, I could have done without the not especially revealing anecdote that Harry relates about his father, and any time chess is mentioned in a private eye flick the pomposity level goes up. But mostly it's good seventies noir.
I think that the ending could be considered optimistic, but it is open to interpretation. It's a dark film, as in "Chinatown" land, when the protagonist ends up in a boat going around in aimless circles with a flesh wound to the leg. Since Mosby and his wife have reconciled earlier in the film, I think it's fair to assume that they will try to make a go of it together, rather than ending up dead or lost, like every other character in the movie. Gene Hackman's lone foray into the private eye genre is fortuitous. Like Bogey and Paul Newman, he is especially deft at put downs of smarmy guys and gals. And Alan Sharp's generally well written screenplay gives him ample opportunity to display this skill. Arthur Penn's direction is well paced and does not draw undue attention to itself. Occasionally, the film gets a bit pretentious. For example, I could have done without the not especially revealing anecdote that Harry relates about his father, and any time chess is mentioned in a private eye flick the pomposity level goes up. But mostly it's good seventies noir.