Dirty Harry (1971)

Certainly troublesome in its politics, with the implication that the violent, sociopathic Callahan is justified in his actions because, you know, criminal scum and ineffectual liberal courts and all that. The film doesn't make itself any easier to like, either, with its incredible deck-stacking -- against Harry the unorthodox-but-good cop, we get not a charismatic or nuanced villain but a slobbering, raving psychopath who leaves us no options when it comes to audience identification. However, while I'm not fond of the film's right-leaning stance, it can't be faulted on any other grounds. It's a fantastic cop thriller made even more exciting by Don Siegal's terse direction. (The most thrilling shot is also the most atypical: the camera spiraling into the heavens at the end of the football stadium arrest.) And Andy Robinson's Scorpio may be a caricature, but he's also a memorable villain for the ages. I'm torn between my distaste for what the film is saying and my lower-brain enjoyment of its hard-boiled action aesthetic, and as you all know, I listen to my reptilian brain probably a little too often.

Grade: B