- Fred Zinnemann's Act of Violence may be the premiere example of a movie category generally overlooked by film scholars: Middling films noir helped tremendously by the presence of Robert Ryan. It's a pretty specific niche, I know, but one that I'm starting to realize contains quite a few films. Ryan's depiction of Joe Parkson, a veteran whose dogged countenance and pronounced limp are mere external indicators of some very deep-seated psychological wounds, is really no better or worse than any of his other performances. But then, that's part of what makes Ryan one of the quintessential noir actors. He's always pitch perfect in roles that require a bitter anti-hero, a deluded chump, or a raging menace. In Act of Violence, he gets to play all three.
- The film's plot revolves around a fellow veteran named Frank Enley (Van Heflin) whose post-war success may be directly attributable to some questionable wartime decisions. Enley hasn't even told his own wife (Janet Leigh) about the initially unspecified incident that took place in a German prison camp, but Parkson remembers and is coming for revenge. Desperate to protect his family from this seemingly deranged stalker, Enley flees to Los Angeles, where he takes up with an aging good-time girl (Mary Astor) and unwittingly finds himself in the company of a merciless hitman (Berry Kroeger). One quickly realizes that any solution to this conundrum is going to involve at least one more act of violence, but it's not clear until the end who the victim will be.
- While Act of Violence is adequately directed and well-cast, it only really shines when Ryan is nearby. In a set of great scenes early on, his mere presence in a boat near Enley's favorite fishing spot or a car outside Enley's home is enough to set everyone, including the audience, on edge. Unfortunately, Enley's later drunken excursion into the care of Mary Astor's character is less compelling than what precedes it, even if Astor turns in a remarkably good performance as a washed-up woman whose lonely life hardly seems to get her any "kicks." As for the ending, I'll say only that film noir often makes it difficult for characters to escape their pasts. With Robert Ryan on your trail, it's damn near impossible.
