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Surprisingly incoherent and boring

Excellent, Without a doubt!!

Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

This film noir has an endless supply of sweets for the discriminating film goer---Of all of the older movies I have seen, this is the one that stands alone as the penultimate movie that can never be made better--Fred MacMurray's perfect role, and what Barbara Stanwyck does with minimalist mannerisms is genius---top the movie with Edward G Robinson being, well, Edward G Robinson and you have the bestest ever film noir--yes, bestest is not a word, but mere words cannot describe the experience of viewing this movie on the big screen, and as you leave the theatre with your baby, pull out a heater and make sure you light it with your thumb, cuz you'll "need" a smoke and a stiff drink after this one, to calm your murderous thoughts!

When I think of Film Noir, Double Indemnity is the film I immediately think of. It has almost all the tropes characteristic of the genre. Voice-over narration, murder, a determined investigator, the corruption of an otherwise upstanding citizen, and the quintessential Femme Fatale of all time.The backbone of the film is the outstanding script by Billy Wilder and Raymond Chandler, perhaps the greatest writer of 'hardboiled' detective fiction, which was adapted from the novel of the same name by James M. Cain. The dialogue is dark, witty and poignant and crackles through the air like electricity. The film is as much a joy to listen to as it is to watch. Of course, part of the reason the dialogue is so great is the performances Wilder got from his actors. Barbara Stanwyck gives the best performance of her career as the scheming housewife who convinces Fred MacMurray's insurance salesman to help her plan the murder of her husband. Edward G. Robinson is almost as good as the investigator at the insurance company whose eccentric mannerisms and dour demeanor make him one the most entertaining detectives in fiction.The true appeal of Noir is in its look and John Seitz does a marvelous job with the cinematography. I've rarely seen light used so effectively in a film or such a richness in the shadows and the contrast between the blacks and whites. Topping off all these fantastic ingredients is a tremendous score by Miklós Rózsa. A somewhat overlooked score, it has a powerfully foreboding main theme that gives the opening and ending scenes of the film an atmospheric punch that sears the sequences into your memory.One of the few films I've seen without any flaws, each aspect of Double Indemnity complements each other and makes the film not only one of the best examples of Film Noir but one of the greatest films of all time.

Walter Neff is an insurance salesman for Pacific All Risk Insurance Company. He falls for Phyllis Dietrichson, the wife of a client of his, and is drawn into a plan to kill Mr. Dietrichson and pocket the insurance money. Between the two of them they come up with the perfect murder, so good it not only looks like an accident, but ensures that the insurance pays out double the usual sum insured - double indemnity. Between them and the money stands Barton Keyes, Pacific Insurance's Head of Claims. Experienced, wily and possessing a sixth sense for claims fraud he is a formidable adversary...Brilliant crime drama - a film-noir classic. Written by Raymond Chandler book and directed by master-director Billy Wilder, this is great on so many levels: the clever plot (especially the murder plan, which is so good you almost want them to succeed); the snappy, often funny, dialogue and the excellent, engaging performances. Moreover, there's a smoothness and coolness about this, a hallmark of film noir.Only things missing from making this one of the greatest movies of all times is a good twist and possibly less predictability. The use of flashbacks to tell the story sort of gives away the direction the plot is taking.Good work by Fred MacMurray as Neff, Barbara Stanwyck as Phyllis and Edward G Robinson as Keyes. In hindsight, Humphrey Bogart would have made a better Neff, but then you could say that about any 1940s role requiring a cool, tough, smooth-talking, wise-cracking male lead. Fred MacMurray does well and doesn't really put a foot wrong, but I kept thinking "Imagine Bogie in the role...".Barbara Stanwyck got a well-deserved Best Leading Actress Oscar nomination for playing Phyllis.The film itself garnered seven Oscar nominations but no wins, losing out on Best Picture to Going My Way, the so-so musical starring Bing Crosby. Billy Wilder got his first Best Director nomination and fourth writing nomination for Double Indemnity. He would have to wait for his next movie, The Lost Weekend, for his first win.

Fred MacMurray plays Walter Neff, an insurance salesman seduced by Barbara Stanwyck's Phyllis Dietrichson (AFI's #8 villain) into killing her husband (Tom Powers). Edward G. Robinson is the claims manager, Barton Keyes, who is assigned to investigate. Noted character actor Porter Hall also appears, as a kind of witness to the "act". Richard Gaines plays an insurance company executive, whom Robinson 'dresses down' in one of the movie's many taut scenes.The story is told in flashback, by MacMurray's character, who gets to watch Robinson's work the case (not unlike the way Peter Falk later played TV's Columbo).The film received Academy Award nominations in several categories, but failed to win a single Oscar: Best Picture, Best Actress for Stanwyck, Best Director for Billy Wilder, Screenplay by Raymond Chandler and Wilder, its John Seitz B&W Cinematography, its Miklós Rózsa Score, and Sound by Loren Ryder. #38 on AFI's 100 Greatest Movies list. #24 on AFI's Most Heart-Pounding Movies list. #84 on AFI's 100 Greatest Love Stories list. Added to the National Film Registry in 1992.