There’s a jazz quintet featured in the credits before “Sweet Smell of Success” that makes a few appearances throughout this journalistic and cerebral noir. It’s fitting because the film’s dialogue is executed in such a devilishly playful dance as though it were trading off jazz riffs and improvisation, offering hints of beauty and sultry sex appeal the way any good jazz number should.
“Sweet Smell of Success” is a contender for best film dialogue ever written. Everything that’s said is punched out with such speed, vigor, bite and wit. No one ever says precisely what they mean and they all speak in clever and cynical analogies, metaphors and snarky back talk. The whole thing is so modern, so harsh and so intellectually biting. Continue reading “Rapid Response: Sweet Smell of Success”