Double Indemnity, directed by Billy Wilder in 1944, is a well-known example of the film noir genre. I appreciated the movie for its twisting crime-based plot and entertaining dialogue. The film begins with a seeming give-away, since the main character is dying from a gunshot wound, so a viewer enters the story feeling like we know everything that will happen. However, the plot contains many twists, with good guys turning bad, and turning back again. This was a great aspect of the film, in my opinion. It is unclear who exactly is the "bad guy", and the lack of black-and-white morality is pretty unique for an apparently tradition crime-drama. We are sympathetic with the main character, Walter Neff, but he is a detective being led into a dark world by a femme fatale, where he becomes determined to murder her husband and cover up the deed.
Another aspect of Double Indemnity that I enjoyed, although not necessarily unique to the film, was the witty and fast-paced dialogue, especially between the two main characters. I always find it somewhat humorous to watch films from this era that contain the stereotypical over-acted dialogue that seem unnatural to two regular people. It makes the movie more dramatic, but in a stylized manner that disconnects the audience from really identifying with the characters. Maybe the audiences back in the '40s were used to the dialogue style, and with time it just seems strange or even laughable.
Double Indemnity is definitely worth watching, as long as you're not expecting a crime thriller. It doesn't necessarily keep you on the edge of your seat, trying to figure out what happens, but it is an entertaining example of the film noir genre.
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