Casablanca Review

Casablanca, in my opinion, was not that good of a movie. I know almost every person you ask will say it is an instant classic, but it just was not my taste. This movie had a romantic storyline to it; some may say it was very emotional. I could not get any emotion out of the movie. I have felt more emotion out of Brokeback Mountain than Casablanca, I’m sorry. I could not get into the movie. To be completely honest, after reading a synopsis of the movie on the internet, everything started making more and more sense. During class, my interest was never really on the movie. I could not pay attention to the movie; I found it incredibly boring. On IMDB.com, every review of Casablanca gives the movie ten out of ten stars and says it’s one of the greatest movies of all time…I don’t get it. Maybe because since it was made in 1942, people at that time thought it was a great advancement for movies or it was one of the first great romantic love stories. Whatever the reasons are, these are the reasons why I am not a huge fan of Casablanca.
One, it is a romantic love story. I enjoy funny movies or action movies…movies that can keep my attention. The acting in Casablanca was mediocre. Whenever there were supposed to be sympathetic parts, I just felt like blah I don’t really care. The ending of the newer King Kong movie was more emotional than the whole Casablanca movie in my eyes. Also, the way they use the Gaussian Blur technique when closing up on Ilsa to show romance or beauty is also not that good of a technique. At first, I did not even notice any changes between frames. It wasn’t until Ms. Pepe slowed down the movie and pointed it out that I actually saw the blur and the fuzziness. Reason number two: I could not follow the storyline of the movie at all. This is half the reason why my interest level was so low during the movie. Without the summary given to us and looking at other summaries on the internet, I would have no clue right now on what the movie was about. The only thing I got out of Casablanca is that it is extremely hard to watch a movie that is confusing to follow. Third: The movie was in black and white, as if it couldn’t be worse enough.
The thing I did like in Casablanca is how much of a boss Rick Blaine was. Right from the start with the impressive entrance, you can tell this guy is no joke. But, as we watched the movie, one finds out that Rick was turned into a cynical person at the cost of heartbreak. In all fairness, Ilsa was put in a very difficult situation, choose to go to Paris with Rick…or go back to her husband who she had thought was dead. I feel Rick did get played out on this one and I can understand his sorrowness and pain inside. After all these years, Ilsa just randomly shows up at his nightclub, “Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world, she walks into mine.” He has a right to be upset when she walks into his club. She pretended to agree with going to Paris with Rick and when the morning finally came (a depressing, raining morning), she was nowhere to be scene and just a letter was given to him saying she could not go with him for reasons that were not stated. Of course Rick should be angry with Ilsa when she shows up at his place. I really liked how Rick changed though by the end of the movie. He gives the letters of transit to Ilsa and Laszlo and in an instant, she is back out of Rick’s life once again. Originally, Rick said he sticks his neck out for nobody, but his true feelings finally appear as he orders Ilsa to get on the plane with her husband for it is the safest choice to make. The movie was extremely boring, uninteresting, but Rick is still the man.