Odds Against Tomorrow

Directed by Robert Wise, Odds Against Tomorrow follows a Harry Belafonte’s Ingram and Robert Ryan’s Slater as they reluctantly agree to work together after Ed Begley’s Burke plots a heist that’ll net each man thousands of dollars. It’s a well-worn premise that’s employed to decidedly off-kilter effect by Wise, as the filmmaker, armed with Abraham Polonsky and Nelson Gidding’s screenplay, delivers a lackadaisical yet atmospheric endeavor that benefits from the superb efforts of its three stars – with the exceedingly well-developed protagonists, and the actors’ palpable chemistry with one another, playing an instrumental role in holding one’s interest even through the narrative’s handful of demonstrable lulls. There’s little doubt, as well, that Odds Against Tomorrow‘s success is due in no small part to its recurring emphasis on compelling, almost stand-alone segments, with, for example, one of the picture’s most enthralling interludes focused on Slater’s tense encounter with a blustery soldier, and it’s clear, as well, that the movie builds towards a heist sequence and final confrontation that are far more exciting and engrossing than one might’ve anticipated – which ultimately does cement its place as a mostly successful and rewarding piece of work from Wise.

*** out of ****

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