Monsieur Verdoux

Data
Title: Monsieur Verdoux
Year: 1947
Length: 124 minutes
Director: Charles Chaplin
Writer: Charles Chaplin, based on an idea by Orson Welles
Starring: Charles Chaplin
Music: Charles Chaplin
Distinctions: Oscar nomination for Best Original Screenplay

My reaction
Synopsis: a man murders wealthy women to support his family
How I saw it: in the theater, yesterday
Concept: Good.
Story: Good.
Characters: Good.
Dialog: Good.
Pacing: Good.
Cinematography: Indifferent.
Special effects/design: Good.
Acting: Indifferent.
Music: Good.
Subjective Rating: 6/10 (Okay). When it's funny, it's good (although never great), but there's a lot of movie here that's more along the lines of serious drama. I can't help thinking of this as Time Travelin' Charlie Chaplin's attempt at making a Coen Brothers movie - which sounds like a great thing, except it's not. Chaplin's a great comic, but I don't think he's much of a filmmaker. I understand it's a groundbreaking movie, but when you've seen some of the great black comedies that followed it, it doesn't hold up.
Objective Rating: 2.7/4 (Good).