A Streetcar Named Desire - 2/5

This is a confused movie, with each of the characters being either detestable or impotent, and often both. It’s meandering and vague, which makes its pointless ending an insult to the audience’s time and intelligence. The film tries to convey solidarity through compassion for the main character, but only succeeds in eliciting scornful pity as her villainy is revealed through the film. The only redeeming feature of this story is its tragically poetic dialogue, which is beautiful but falls flat without a meaningful story to tell.

Closest comparison: It’s like Gone With the Wind by way of Sunset Boulevard.

Setting: Drama
Plot: Tragedy
Tone: Tragedy

Guys and Dolls - 3/5

This is a classic musical with a fun style that holds up years later. It’s starting number and some parts later on are surprisingly frenetic for the era it was written, and it comes off (like Gilbert and Sullivan) as being more fun to perform than to watch. That being said, its storyline is as constructed and outlandish as any musical, which will delight musical show enthusiasts but will only serve to drive skeptics of the genre further away with its garish pomposity. Don’t listen to those fuddy-duddies, this is a fun movie.

Closest comparison: It’s like Ocean’s Eleven (1960) by way of HMS Pinafore.

Setting: Crime
Plot: RomCom
Tone: Musical Comedy