(Spoilers) I have to side with those who found this movie less than great. For one thing, is any subway ride in New York this long? Transatlantic flights seem shorter.
For another, this film was obviously scripted after the 1964 Kitty Genovese incident, and it shows. At the time there was a lot of pop sociology that Ms. Genovese would have never been publicly murdered the way she was outside of cold NYC. Probably believing this, the script writer had character in the movie who finally takes effective action come from Oklahoma. However, I know of plenty of similar demonstrations of indifference to human life in rural U.S. --the horrible lynching extravaganzas of 1890 - 1930 for instance.
I'm not sure you can transfer the sorry reactions of 38 New Yorkers, who were each in their own space, to a subway car with a common space. The way other males simply cringed while one by one, they were verbally and physically assaulted - I just didn't believe it. (Edit 2015: the public reaction to the Kitty Genovese has had some revisionist history done in the past twenty years, the upshot being that the story of '38 New Yorkers watching a clear cut scene of murder and not reacting' has been found to be much exaggerated.)
And the one soldier (Robert Bannard), remaining seated while his injured buddy (Beau Bridges) belatedly takes action? Gees, with soldiers like that - maybe that's why we lost in Vietnam.
Last, the utterly depressing ending, with the survivors silently stepping over the prostrate bum and leaving? I sympathize with those who paid admission back in 1967. Mind you, "The Incident" is not a *terrible* movie (Sheen and Mustante were chillingly good), and I'm not addicted to sugary endings; but considering the heavy-handedness of the message, the theater experience had to feel like having to buy a ticket in order to be yelled at by your boss.
Recommended for: those who want to see President Bartlett in is young and wild years.
For another, this film was obviously scripted after the 1964 Kitty Genovese incident, and it shows. At the time there was a lot of pop sociology that Ms. Genovese would have never been publicly murdered the way she was outside of cold NYC. Probably believing this, the script writer had character in the movie who finally takes effective action come from Oklahoma. However, I know of plenty of similar demonstrations of indifference to human life in rural U.S. --the horrible lynching extravaganzas of 1890 - 1930 for instance.
I'm not sure you can transfer the sorry reactions of 38 New Yorkers, who were each in their own space, to a subway car with a common space. The way other males simply cringed while one by one, they were verbally and physically assaulted - I just didn't believe it. (Edit 2015: the public reaction to the Kitty Genovese has had some revisionist history done in the past twenty years, the upshot being that the story of '38 New Yorkers watching a clear cut scene of murder and not reacting' has been found to be much exaggerated.)
And the one soldier (Robert Bannard), remaining seated while his injured buddy (Beau Bridges) belatedly takes action? Gees, with soldiers like that - maybe that's why we lost in Vietnam.
Last, the utterly depressing ending, with the survivors silently stepping over the prostrate bum and leaving? I sympathize with those who paid admission back in 1967. Mind you, "The Incident" is not a *terrible* movie (Sheen and Mustante were chillingly good), and I'm not addicted to sugary endings; but considering the heavy-handedness of the message, the theater experience had to feel like having to buy a ticket in order to be yelled at by your boss.
Recommended for: those who want to see President Bartlett in is young and wild years.