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	• Great Guy [VHS] James Cagney, Mae Clarke Madacy Entertainment, 1998 average customer review:based on 6 reviews view larger image
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GREAT GUY is a fun film. It's not especially complicated or insightful; it won't give you a new perception into the depths of the human experience. But for a film that barely lasts for over an hour, it's an entertaining chunk of action that's well worth viewing.

Since the running time of this film is only an hour and six minutes (the back of the DVD package incorrectly lists this as 75 minutes) one won't be surprised to find that this isn't a terribly demanding movie. But it's certainly engaging, and it's quite enjoyable to watch James Cagney as an official in the Office of Weights and Measures going around thumping people who don't perform up to their required specifications. The jokes all work and the action sequences are executed well.

The DVD isn't in great shape, though as this is a budget release one would suspect that this might be the case. The picture is a bit scratchy and there are numerous jumps and slight cuts in the action. The sound quality has similar flaws; several popping noises and other numerous audible distractions abound during the running of this DVD.

This is a fun film that's recommended to fans of James Cagney. It's a pleasant way to while away an hour of a Saturday afternoon if you find yourself with some time to kill. The Laserlight DVD itself contains a few flaws, so you may want to try to find a better version of the film.

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Still Relevant

Great Guy brings to the screen (as it should do) the reality of widespread corruption in the 1930's during FDR's New Deals. The movie does a good job of shedding light on that intriguing era and uncovers various plots and schemes that go all the way up to highest offices. Has much changed since then? No comment...
James Cagney and the rest of the cast have truly outdone themselves with their performances, which are exceptional to say the least!
My only reservation is in relation to Johnny Cave's nickname, "Red." Whether it is referring to the color of his hair or whether to his political leanings remains a mystery, thought the latter would not be surprising considering that to rise in FDR's early administrations one usually had to be... "Reddish."
Apart from that, the plot, the setting, and the music are all very good.
Though not a masterpiece, it is indeed an interesting film that will provide for an evening's entertainment.

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Cagney brings the law

If there's one thing Cagney knows how to do well, even when he's sober, it's throw a good punch. In "Great Guy" he plays chief pro-temp of the Bureau of Weights and Measures and tries to root-out the thugs who cheat people out of money by fixing their scales. He gets kicked around quite a bit but gives as good as he gets. In one scene he's completely tossed upside down in the air and slammed against the wall. It's hilarious but stunning at the same time. Throughout the film he's bribed, beaten and even framed--in a scene remarkably similar to his framing in "Each Dawn I Die." Even a little romance is thrown in for good measure with Mae Clarke whom he "grapefruited" in Public Enemy. I can't see this film being remotely interesting with any other actor than James Cagney. It's actors like him that bring such magnetism to the screen and make even the ordinary extraordinary. This film has a lot of laughs and knocking people about and the ending sequence has some of the best fight-staging I've ever seen. The actors are completely invested in it, I'm sure they didn't walk away from it without some bruising.

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The Great Guy

Jimmy Cagney didn't always play fast-talking, two-fisted bad guys in the 1930s. In THE GREAT GUY Cagney plays a fast-talking, two-fisted good guy who, due to a suspicious accident to the Boss, finds himself temporarily in charge of the Bureau of Weight and Measures for what appears to be New York City. Although the Boss warns him to `keep your head on your shoulders and your fists in your pocket' (love the dialogue in this one) Cagney is too much the crusader to heed such reasonable advice. When not running down short-shifting green grocers and heavy-thumbed butchers Cagney sets his sights on a juicy, and dangerous, nest of corrupt politicos.

Cagney is engaged to pretty young Mae Clarke, who rather conveniently is secretary to a city leader, a benign philanthropist by day and, Cagney hunches, a graft raking extortionist by night. The easily digested plot hinges on how Clarke responds to Cagney's accusations against her employer. Although Cagney doesn't push a grapefruit in Clarke's face this time around, they do engage in a series of pre-nuptial lovers' spats that add a nice bit of texture to an otherwise pleasantly unambitious movie. THE GREAT GUY is the type of movie that invites us to ask, while practically insisting we not worry about, such things as - Will Cagney compromise his integrity, by easing up on the grafting philanthropist, to save his relationship with the winsome Clarke? Will Clarke ever realize what a truly great guy this pugnacious, temporary manager of the Bureau of Weights and Measures really is?

There's something winning about a movie that entertains without breaking much of a sweat. Even Cagney, who could be a live wire when working with important Grade-A material, is relatively subdued. The good cast and bouncy action - especially Cagney - trim THE GREAT GUY with enough interesting bits of business to make palatable - downright tasty, as a matter of fact - a plot that is overly familiar and predictable.

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