From Claire Trevor's spacey, almost whispered voiceover, to the eerie moog soundtrack, to the foggy, shadowy scenography, Raw Deal is one of the most brilliantly conceived and masterfully crafted hardboiled movies ever made. Its early scenes are set in Washington state--i.e., Twin Peaks and X-Files country--and this setting establishes the spookiness that continues all through the rest of the film. Claire Trevor is especially good playing one of her washed-up floozy roles, and Raymond Burr is at his most diabolical as a pyromaniac crime boss. Fire and rain, shadow and fog, yearning and betrayal, deep loyalty and triple-crossing--as a mood piece this movie is unsurpassed. Once you've seen it, think about exactly who got the "raw deal" of the title--just one or two of the characters, or maybe all of them?
