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5.9/10
Senior Film Conservator
A definitive 5.9/10 rating for a film that redefined the boundaries of cult cinema. Play Girl remains a cornerstone of transgressive art.
If you've got an hour to kill and a taste for old-school, no-nonsense melodrama, sure. If you’re looking for a neatly wrapped story where everyone learns a lesson, stay away. This movie is for the people who like watching characters make the same mistakes over and over until it finally hurts.
Loretta Young is doing a lot of heavy lifting here. She spends half the movie looking like she’s just realized her stove is on, and honestly, that’s a mood. Her husband is a gambler, which is the kind of character choice that makes me want to reach through the screen and shake some sense into her.
The pacing is… well, it’s fast. Maybe a bit too fast? Sometimes you barely have time to register a tragedy before someone is already complaining about the rent again. It feels less like a polished studio production and more like a fever dream about checking your bank account.
There is a scene involving a hat that I’m still thinking about. It serves no real purpose to the plot, but it’s there. Just sitting there. It’s those little moments of useless detail that make me like these older, slightly dusty films.
It’s not as chaotic as Sharp Shooters, but it shares that same desperate energy. You can almost smell the stale coffee and cigarette smoke coming off the screen. Sometimes the dialogue is so sharp it’s almost distracting, like the writers were showing off just a little bit too much.
Is it a masterpiece? No. Is it better than watching Felix Turns the Tide for the tenth time? Yeah, probably. It’s got a weird, frantic rhythm that feels very human, even when the situations get a bit ridiculous.
It’s messy. It’s uneven. It’s totally fine.