Review of "The Enforcer," a movie starring Humphrey Bogart DVD version

Review of

The Enforcer, a movie starring Humphrey Bogart DVD version

Three out of five stars

 Humphrey Bogart stars as a tough district attorney struggling to bring a case against the mastermind (Mendoza) of a murder for hire organization. Mendoza is in jail and scheduled to go to trial the next day. A lieutenant is in custody and has implicated Mendoza in personally committing a murder, but the man is suffering from a severe case of the jitters. When there is an attempt to kill him, he tries to escape by climbing out a window, but falls to his death.

 Bogart is unwilling to simply give up the case and so goes back and takes one last look at the evidence. The viewer then sees the flashbacks as Bogart and his assistants relive the events of the creation of the organization, how their investigation progressed and the way they built their case.

 The best Bogart movies are driven by the interaction between the characters and the quality of the dialog, neither of which is strong in this movie. There is also not a great deal of tension built up to the conclusion, the end result is obvious well before you see it. This movie is fine, but nothing spectacular.