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The Killing is a film that has a very dark story and is a story with a very slow dialogue. It starts off really slowly within the first 30 minutes at least and then it just suddenly starts all over again. To be perfectly honest, I thought this film was rather thrilling and was quite impactful but I don't really refer it as a classic crime film as I don't as a classic Kubrick film.
The acting was good from Sterling Hayden as Johnny Clay. Johnny Clay is a veteran criminal planning one last heist before settling down and marrying Fay. His plan is to rob the money-counting room of a racetrack of two million dollars during a featured race, and to do this he assembles a team consisting of a corrupt cop; George Peatty, a betting window teller at the track to give access to the backroom; a sharpshooter to shoot the favorite horse during the race, distracting the crowd; a wrestler to provide another distraction by provoking a fight at the track bar, and the bartender.
I wouldn't call The Killing Kubrick's classic debut film to start with. I do still think Paths Of Glory takes that place. That is a better film than The Killing. Kubrick directs this one in a slight way how Scorsese directed GoodFellas. I will give Kubrick's work on The Killing credit that it is extremely underrated and wasn't taken into consideration by Hollywood until he made his later works most notably Dr. Strangelove, 2001: A Space Odyssey, A Clockwork Orange and The Shining.
This isn't one of Kubrick's best works and it isn't Kubrick's worst film either but it is as I said one of his most underrated works along side Paths Of Glory and Lolita. I think if I give Barry Lyndon a re-watch in the future then The Killing could be but for the moment it isn't. This is a good film but it was too slow and it was well put together again until it actually got the hang of the storyline. The Killing should be watched if anyone is a fan of Kubrick's films. I wouldn't recommend just anybody to watch it, just a fan of Kubrick. The Killing is a classic crime film that sends through a crook's adventure into a robbery. Good film but wouldn't watch again.
7/10
