1980: "The First Deadly Sin"

                               The First Deadly Sin is an 1980 detective story based on a novel by Lawrence Sanders (author of The Anderson Tapes). The film stars Frank Sinatra in his final starring role as a detective trailing down a killer in New York City while also doting on his dying wife (played by Faye Dunaway).

                           This is a fairly minor film, but not a bad film by any means. I didn't really think much of it when I first saw it. Watching it again, it's actually alright. Though the plot is pretty standard, it had fine filmmaking on its side. It's low-key, it's subdued, it has subtle camerawork, and has a pacing that, very much like its lead protagonist, is leisurely and meditative.
                           Frank Sinatra, the heart and soul of the film, is really good as the old, tired detective. Martin Gabel is utterly charming as the helplessly curious armory curator who helps Sinatra track down the ice axe weapon used in the murders. In fact, those scenes where the curator hunts for the weapon are some of my favorite scenes because they provide a fresh breath of air from the dourness of the main story. Faye Dunaway is....fine, I guess, though her acting involves a lot of lying in bed and sleeping (kind of a strange role for her, considering she was a star at the time). I didn't even think her presence in the movie was necessary because the movie keeps cutting back and forth between the case and Sinatra visiting her. It's fine maybe once or twice, but it happens multiple times. Her character should have been more pushed to the sidelines since it's more about Sinatra's struggles than it is about her (and honestly, I didn't care much about her).
                      There are some odd editing moments that didn't quite click for me. When they show the killer in his apartment, acting disturbed and crazed, it cross cuts to Faye Dunaway in bed, suffering, which, I'm not quite sure I understood the parallels with those edits.

                     The movie might, once again, fade from my memory, but it works perfectly fine as a time-passing character movie, with a good lead performance.