Brightly Dark

“Noir” originally described a type of movie especially prevalent in the 40s and 50s. You know the ones: This Gun for Hire, Out of the Past, The Big Sleep, Double Indemnity, Kiss Me Deadly, etc. They feature sleaze, lowlife, crime, corrupt cops, and wisecracking dames. The protagonist is cynical: often a disillusioned former idealist. The villain is worse only by degree. The term later was back-applied to the books on which so many of the movies were based: books by the likes of Dashiell Hammett, Raymond Chandler, and Jim Thompson.

The style of writing and filmmaking persists (neo-noir), but it was so well suited to its initial decades that a deft hand is required to make it work in the 21^st century. Too easily the result can resemble parody. It can be done, and is done, but one way to ease the process is to set the work in the 40s and 50s. This approach was taken in a book by Christopher Moore released last month and by Michael Winterbottom in his 2010 film adaptation of Jim Thompson’s 1952 book The Killer inside Me.

**** ****

Noir by Christopher Moore

I’ve long liked Christopher Moore’s satiric style, so that alone was enough reason to consider buying his latest book. Set in 1947 San Francisco, the novel’s on-the-money homage to noir clinched the sale. Moore captures the patter of the genre. This actually concerns him somewhat: before the text proper, Moore asks the reader’s indulgence for the book’s era-appropriate un-PC dialogue. (Frankly, most – not all – of it is refreshing.)

Sammy isn’t anyone special and his moral code is flexible. He chooses not to mention that his bad foot isn’t a war injury as everyone assumes; in reality it had kept him out of the service. He falls hard for the to-die-for shapely war widow Stilton (“like the cheese”) who chooses not to mention that (for her at least) her status is not so tragic. Sammy is no detective Philp Marlowe and Stilton is no heiress Vivian Rutledge; he’s a bartender and she’s a waitress. When he and “the Cheese” find themselves embroiled in murder, corrupt police, renegade federal agents, snake venom, and a secret organization of one-percenters, the two must punch seriously above their weights to survive. Unexpectedly, behind all the commotion is a mysterious event that took place in Roswell, New Mexico.

The novel has good action, good drama, unlikely twists, dual narratives, and shameless sentiment. It is funny without descending into full-on parody. Thumbs Up.

**** ****

The Killer inside Me (2010)

I read Jim Thompson’s book decades ago. A 1976 screen adaptation was not very well done, so I was curious to see if this one was more successful. I’ve caught snippets of it here and there, but only last week did I finally watch it through.

Deputy Sherriff Lou Ford (Casey Affleck) hides his calculated sociopathy and sexual depravity by affecting a folksy dullness in a 1950s West Texas town. He is well-liked in town and by his respectable girlfriend Amy (Kate Hudson) whom he keeps as part of his smokescreen. However, when his sadism is matched by the masochism of the prostitute Joyce (Jessica Alba), the brutal violence depicted is not the comic book variety one sees in Kingsman or Kill Bill! It is vile, base, degraded, and all too credible.

Lou sets up a scene at Joyce’s house to look like Joyce and her customer/lover young Conway killed each other. He does this for amusement because young Conway’s father is someone against whom Lou holds a grudge. The outcome of the movie depends on whether Lou’s set-up holds up under investigation.

Disturbing, but Thumbs Up.