On the Waterfront 1954

Visually, On the Waterfront is great. The black and white cinematography, framing, and atmosphere give the film a strong old school texture that I can still appreciate even if the story itself did not really pull me in. Marlon Brando sometimes feels like a younger version of Don Vito Corleone to me, especially whenever that anger and vengeful side starts showing. There is already that quiet intensity in him where he does not need to constantly explode to feel dangerous. Lee J. Cobb, meanwhile, immediately gave me his Juror 3 energy from 12 Angry Men (1957). That same loud, aggressive, confrontational presence is very much here. But story wise, I honestly couldn’t care less about the characters. I can appreciate the performances and how good the film looks, but emotionally, I just never became invested enough in what happened to them.