Evengyny Thanks for the memories!

Greenes Please don't spend money on this.

Glimmerubro It is not deep, but it is fun to watch. It does have a bit more of an edge to it than other similar films.

Billy Ollie Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

sijoe22 I'm usually a big fan of realistic, shot-on-the-streets of New York cop movies, but not this one.Plot, if you want to call it that, has cops looking for a bad guy, who's wanted for murder. Whoopie. Not a single character has any depth, storyline is pathetic, and Henry Fonda is about as authentic as a NYPD Commissioner as Pee Wee Herman would be.Can't think of a single memorable line, nor a single surprise during entire movie. Matter of fact, I just saw it yesterday, and forgot the ending already.I swear, I've seen much, much better cop flicks on those old televised "Movie of the Week" shows that used to be all the rage.Close, no, make that NOT EVEN CLOSE, to being a decent movie.

Woodyanders Maverick veteran detective Daniel Madigan (a superb and credible performance by Richard Widmark) and his equally seasoned partner Rocco Bonaro (well played by Harry Guardino) have to catch maniacal psycho Barney Benesch (a memorably edgy turn by Steve Ihnat) with 72 hours. Meanwhile, stern by-the-book police commissioner Anthony Russell (Henry Fonda in typically top-drawer form) has personal and professional problems of his own. Director Don Siegel, working from a gripping and thoughtful screenplay by Howard Rodman and Abraham Polonsky, relates the compelling story at a steady pace, makes inspired use of authentically gritty New York City locations, grounds the plot in a thoroughly believable harsh urban reality, maintains a serious no-nonsense tone throughout, and stages the rousing climax with tremendous skill and aplomb. Moreover, this picture acquires additional depth, substance, and even poignancy by showing the troubled private lives of the main characters in a convincing and straightforward manner. The uniformly stellar acting by the first-rate cast qualifies as another major asset, with especially commendable work by Inger Stevens as Madigan's fed-up neglected wife Julia, James Whitmore as the amiable, on the take Chief Inspector Charles Kane, Susan Clark as Russell's classy mistress Tricia Bentley, Michael Dunn as antsy bookie Midget Castoglione, Don Stroud as excitable low-life informant Hughie, and Sheree North as sultry nightclub singer Jonesy. Russell Metty's no-frills cinematography further enhances the overall stark realism. Don Costa's spirited score hits the stirring spot. A worthwhile action thriller.

revtg1-3 A good, solid cop story made believable by the solid performances of Widmark and Fonda. Steve Ihnat, an unknown, steals the show as he creates the character Barney Benesch. Benesch is the most cold blooded, asocial, homicidal animal you ever saw. Vicious, insane, suicidal and homicidal. He is never without a .45 in each hand even while carrying a sack of groceries. Good scene: Widmark and his partner spot a guy in a booth in a bar that they think might be Benesch. When he expresses his resentment over being harassed, Widmark tried to brush him off by saying, "I'm sorry. You looked like some guy from Cleveland." The guy jumps out of the booth and attacks them, shouting, "Nobody tells me I look like I'm from Cleveland." The weak point in the movie comes when Widmark and his partner corner Benesch in a small apartment and he is behind a refrigerator with a pistol in each hand daring them to "come and get him." Just before they go in a uniformed cop offers them bullet proof vests, which they refuse. NO cop would do that. And if he did he would be immediately removed from duty for a psych exam. So they go in, guns blazing, while Benesch comes out, guns blazing. Stupid end to what could have been a much better movie. But still worth watching because of a superb cast.

MBunge Madigan is a movie that inhabits a weird cultural limbo. It's stuck in between the morally upright cop dramas of the 1950s and the vulgar realism of police stories in the 1970s. Add in a heavy dose of soap opera and glacial pacing and the result is a film that isn't technically bad, but is so dated as to be halfway to unwatchable.The story focuses on three days in the lives of two men; New York City police lieutenant Dan Madigan (an intermittently jowly Richard Widmark) and the city's police commissioner Anthony X. Russell (Henry Fonda). When Madigan and his partner Rocco Bonara (Harry Guardino) try to pick up a minor hood named Barney Benesch (Steve Ihnat) for questioning, Barney gets the drop on them, steals their guns and escapes. Madigan and Rocco are given 72 hours to bring Barney back in and they turn to everyone from a midget bookie (Michael Dunn) to apparently the last white pimp in 1968 America (Don Stroud) to get the job done. In the meantime, Madigan also has to deal with his bored and lonely housewife, Julia (Inger Stevens), and the old girlfriend he never stopped seeing (Sheree North). While fretting over Madigan's exploits, Commissioner Russell also has to deal with the discovery that his chief inspector and best friend (James Whitmore) is caught on tape in collusion with a known criminal, mollify a prominent African-American (Raymond St. Jacques) who feels his son was mistreated by police and figure out what to do with the married woman he's sleeping with (Susan Clark).I'm not sure how provocative this film was back in the last gasp of the 1960s but by the standards of the early 21st century, Madigan is milder than Amish hot sauce. Madigan and Rocco are supposed to be two cops who bend the rules and live life on the edge, but their daring behavior consists of rapping a suspect on the knuckles like a nun with a ruler and menacing a woman by threatening to rearrange her furniture. When Madigan goes to his old girlfriend's apartment instead of home to his wife, he doesn't have sex with her. He takes a nap. These filmmakers seemed to think it would be quite shocking to show a police commissioner, especially one portrayed by Henry Fonda, having an affair with a married woman. Watching that today is not only not shocking…it's kind of sarcastically funny. It gives you the mental image of the people who made Madigan as a bunch of 4th graders who think saying "fart" all the time is daring and naughty.It certainly doesn't help matters than this movie is…so…very…slow. If this film tried to run the 100 yard dash, you could time it with a sun dial. Everything in Madigan takes for-frickin-ever to happen. There's no sense of tension or danger or movement. The story just trundles on from one overly long scene to the next until it becomes a chore to sit through.It's a bit of a shame because, aside from Fonda's performance never being much more than having a stern look on his face, the substance of this movie is relatively okay. The acting is effective, the dialog is snappy, the plot is reasonably intelligent and the direction is clear and visually engaging. But its tone is so antiquated and its tempo is so sluggish that you can't enjoy any of the movie's positive aspects.Unless you want to make a drinking game out of watching Madigan and downing a shot every time Richard Widmark's second chin shows up, you really shouldn't waste your time with this film.