8/10
The great pretender: Feelin' good at failin'
3 April 2018
This is a fullblown Robert de Niro flick, who as a character is running on empty: no money from the ATM, no money from work. What to do? He creates a pipedream and is gonna organize a boxingmatch with no knowledge of it and with no money to back it. That spells trouble.

Night and the City has it's other star in the name of Jessica Lange. Both Lange and de Niro make "Night and the City" a joy to watch. It is a light drama although the feelgood factor is at such a high that you could also call it a feelgood drama.You just gotta love the character de Niro plays, he fails at everything but gets away with it and has another even bigger project destined to fail lined up right after the earlier misfortunes. He is truly the great pretender, but feelin' good at it!

If you like de Niro's work you should definitely see this lighter drama, because he dances a tightrope between a comedy and a drama and does so very convincing. The dialogues are funky and full of wit. The story is simple but connivingly great and has a great dynamic. It has a nice throwaway feel to it, but however lighthearted it is, the story deals with heinous deceit. "Night and the City" has become so dear to me over the years, because the characters are so sympathetic: while failing at everything they still hold on to their dreams and on to eachother's love. De Niro and Lange are just to die for in this New York Tale of love and deceit.
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