Cinema Cycle - Ace In The Hole

CINEMA CYCLE

(Cardio Workout And Reviewing Movies At The Same Time)

DATE VIEWED: 03/13/2015

TITLE: Ace In The Hole

FORMAT: Streaming (Google Play)

TIME RIDDEN / FILM LENGTH: 1 hour 51 minutes

DISTANCE RIDDEN WHILE VIEWING: 24.8 miles

TOTAL CINEMA MILES LOGGED: 1284.2 miles

SYNOPSIS: A newspaper reported comes upon a human interest story of a man trapped in an underground cave-in and manipulates the story to his own advantage.

CONCEPT IN RELATION TO THE VIEWER: The media and its moral obligation to inform and entertain.  There is journalism and there is pandering to the masses to make a buck.  Something that is more relevant today than when this film was made.  

PROS AND CONS: A film I did not expect.  I am not sure how this made it onto my media list of films to watch, but I am glad it did.  

This film has two levels.  There is the visual level that shows the actors, staging and dialogue and there is the deeper message of how we as a society act given a specific situation and how the media can aid or harm all of us with their ‘use’ of the news.

There was a time in American media when it was a sacred trust to inform the audience of the proper ways to behave in a civilized society.  Social studies was something that you lived and not just read about.  The cinema was one of the prime movers in showing the audience what was acceptable behavior and what was morally right and wrong.  This film springs from that era.  

The first 30 minutes of the film were slow and somewhat painful to sit through.  There is  a lot of dialogue, bordering on monologues, by the main characters.  These long speeches  develop the personalities and motivations of the characters, but in this film they are a bit much.  

After about 30 minutes the film breaks open.  It goes from indoor scenes of dialogue and character development to huge Hollywood epic scenes with a cast of thousands (literally, no special effect here).  

The ending of the film, while somewhat painful to watch, is predictable.  The final scene in which Kirk Douglas’ character collapses on the floor of the small town newspaper office leaves the viewer wondering.  Did he die for his sins or does he survive to be tormented by his actions in the film?  It is left up to the viewer to decide.  

To read an overview of this project, check out the initial post for this series.

Clicking on the title will take you to the Internet Movie Database (IMDB) entry for this film. 

This film was viewed while exercising on my recumbent cycle.  A summary of my time spent working out on my journey through movie-land can be found on Strava.com.