The start of the movie shows Keenan Wynn walking calmly into a tent with his fellow soldiers, shooting one man dead, then walking calmly back to his barracks. It's very creepy, and it puts the audience in the mood for a very scary mental thriller. Man in the Middle doesn't really live up to the hype from the beginning, but if you like court martial movies or hate crime movies, you can try it out.
Robert Mitchum gets called in as defending counsel for Keenan's court martial, and he meets obstacles at every turn. Clearly, Keenan is insane, but no one will testify to that fact. Since the man Keenan killed was British, the officers are intent on hanging him to improve relations between the United States and England; the movie takes place during WWII. To me, that was a very weak motivation for the villains in the film. One murder case would make or break Allied relations? I doubted it. Also, the film takes a blatant viewpoint that because Keenan is a racist, he is therefore insane, which is a debatable argument.
As much as I love Robert Mitchum, he didn't need to be in this movie; it was a role Kirk Douglas would normally be cast in. Between Trevor Howard's incoherent mumbling, France Nuyen's inconsistent character, and Keenan Wynn's one-dimensional rantings, this felt more like a B-movie than a serious one. It's a cross between A Soldier's Story and Town Without Pity, but not nearly as good as either.
DLM Warning: If you suffer from vertigo or dizzy spells, like my mom does, this movie might not be your friend. In the courtroom scenes there are a couple of ceiling fans blowing, and it might make you sick. In other words, "Don't Look, Mom!"
Robert Mitchum gets called in as defending counsel for Keenan's court martial, and he meets obstacles at every turn. Clearly, Keenan is insane, but no one will testify to that fact. Since the man Keenan killed was British, the officers are intent on hanging him to improve relations between the United States and England; the movie takes place during WWII. To me, that was a very weak motivation for the villains in the film. One murder case would make or break Allied relations? I doubted it. Also, the film takes a blatant viewpoint that because Keenan is a racist, he is therefore insane, which is a debatable argument.
As much as I love Robert Mitchum, he didn't need to be in this movie; it was a role Kirk Douglas would normally be cast in. Between Trevor Howard's incoherent mumbling, France Nuyen's inconsistent character, and Keenan Wynn's one-dimensional rantings, this felt more like a B-movie than a serious one. It's a cross between A Soldier's Story and Town Without Pity, but not nearly as good as either.
DLM Warning: If you suffer from vertigo or dizzy spells, like my mom does, this movie might not be your friend. In the courtroom scenes there are a couple of ceiling fans blowing, and it might make you sick. In other words, "Don't Look, Mom!"