One Paragraph Movie Review: The Big Carnival/Ace In The Hole

Thirty-eighth film: The Big Carnival, or as it’s better known: Ace In The Hole, a Billy Wilder film starring Kirk Douglas that I loved the gritty forehead sweat out of. GRITTY, I TELL YA. This movie has very great things, like incredible camerawork, a hard-nosed, high-pantsed newspaper man, a platinum-haired, self-interested dame, and a hairy-chested tough guy with a heart of gold and an inconvenient stuck-down-a-hole problem. You can feel the desert dust coating your tongue as you swing wildly between gradually building tension and red hot zingy bants. Seriously, this thing had me at “I’ve lied to men who wear belts, I’ve lied to men who wear suspenders. But I’d never be so stupid as to lie to a man who wears both belts and suspenders”. Plus there’s a cautionary tale about our lust for news, and somebody gets stabbed in the guts for a bonus round. LOVED IT. Four Navajo rugs out of five.