My first tryst with Clint Eastwood films was 'The Good, bad, and the Ugly'. I immediately fell in love with the film and Eastwood's cool demeanour. Hence, I set out to find another movie of his, and decided to watch Dirty Harry on recommendation from fellow fan, Unni.
A brief review
Though the film carries itself as an action thriller, it gives a pretty appeasing appetizer, a mediocre main-course and a sumptuous dessert. The movie centers itself around Clint Eastwood, the life of the movie. He plays an inspector(Harry) on the police force who is on the lookout for a serial killer. The movie starts off with a slow pace, gaining pace through out. The movie in a sense is quite thought provoking. It gives a moral stand on justice, how it should be handled, but how it is not. Though Harry(Eastwood) is shown in a negative light throughout the movie, one can see that his rough-cut hard exterior belies a justice-driven interior. Overall, the movie is worth a watch if you are a Clint Eastwood fan or a fan of thrillers. Contemporary to its time, I would have given it a 7.5/10 rating, but today I will give it just a 7/10. Dont forget to catch the "Do you feel lucky" scene.
The Plot (has spoilers)
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| Do you feel lucky? |
The story revolves around a serial killer (Andy Robinson) who enjoys sniping arbitrary people for the fun of it. He soon starts creating havoc around town. Thats when Inspector Harry Callahan(eastwood) enters the investigation. Callahan, the consummate detective he is, was also infamous for his ruthlessness when it came to justice. His trysts around town, taking up any job under his nose earned him the nickname 'Dirty Harry'. The killer who called himself 'Scorpio' threatened the town to continue the onslaught unless he receives a huge settlement of cash. Keeping up the city police's stand of not dealing with criminals Harry and his new partner explore a plan of surveying rooftops, because of the well known trait of a criminal to return to the scene of the crime. Luck favours them and the killer shows up, ensuing in a battle of gunfire, but the suspect manages to make his escape. Scorpio, the inveterate killer he is, is unruffled by the encounter, and embarks upon his new conquest - the kidnapping of the mayor's daughter. The mayor worried for his daughter, pulls some strings and solicits enough cash for the ransom. The task of delivering the money is assigned to Harry, who is specifically instructed not to play games with Scorpio. But Harry obtains a wireless transmitter and hooks it on to his jacket innards, so that his partner can follow his every move. Scorpio leads Harry on a wild goose chase to make sure he is not being tailed, and eventually leads him to the drop off point, where he announces that he murdered the girl and beats the life out of the inspector. His partner alerted by the transmitter makes an appearance in the nick of time to save Harry's life. In the confusion, Harry manages to dig a knife into Scorpio's legs, leaving him with a serious injury, while he himself passes out. Later, when a patient is treated for a serious leg injury at a medical center, the police are alerted and Harry manages to track the killer down, and arrest him. This is where the director brings about a twist in the tale. Even though Scorpio has been arrested, no legal action can be taken against him, as the purposed "evidence" was inadmissable in a court of law, due to various frivolous reasons. This meant Scorpio was allowed to walk free on the streets again. This time around Scorpio had a trick up his sleeve. Getting bashed up on purpose, he frames Harry into a harassment case and cunningly prevents further pursuit from Harry. Not stopping there, he hijacks a bus-load of school children, and yet again demands ransom and a flight out of the city. When offered the chance yet again to deliver the ransom, Harry refuses stressing he is no delivery boy. In a heroic attempt Harry places himself strategically on a bridge, and hurls himself on top of the bus as it passes below him. The crazed killer in a frantic pursuit to ward him off, steers the bus off path and makes a run for it. In the ensuing pursuit, the desperate killer secures a kid as a hostage in a final hope of escape. Harry proves his names worth by taking a lucky shot at him and grazes him in the shoulder. The climax ends with an amazing scenario. The killer has a gun next to him. If he reaches for it he will get shot, but he is not sure if Harry has any ammo left in the gun. Harry, chides him on purpose, which forces Scorpio to take up the gun, and he is shot square in the chest. In the end, disgusted by the state of the police force, who let a criminal free and put so many lives at stake, and knowing his actions would anyway be reprimanded, he throws away his police star into the river and walks away from the scene.
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