Casablanca – A True Classic

I loved getting to watch this with Tori as I knew she would really like it… I won’t spoil her review but I think I was right.

I’ll pass things over to her now.

Pre-viewing:

I don’t really know anything about this movie. I am surprised that this is something I’ve never seen before. My mom and I used to spend the summers watching these types of movies and eating junk food together. In fact, one of my all-time favorite movies is An Affair to Remember, which feels like it would be very similar to Casablanca (despite the 15-year gap in their releases).

Post-viewing:

I didn’t realize how many iconic lines originated from this movie. There are so many that I have heard and used myself. I feel like they just don’t make movies like this anymore. I loved the dialogue and story. It was very simply done – most of the film’s setting was Rick’s establishment, and yet, the story was so rich and detailed.

I’m sure there is a level of nostalgia involved with my enjoyment of this movie. I can’t imagine this movie would be well-received if it were made today. That is definitely something I was thinking about in the back of my mind while watching this film. It was hard to reconcile somewhat romanticizing such a dark period in history. But if you look at this for pure entertainment value, it’s a beautiful story about love, friendship, and sacrifice. 

Nick’s thoughts:

This was only my second ever viewing of Casablanca. I remembered liking it, but I didn’t remember how rich it was.

The story is simple, yet has twists aplenty to keep things fresh and moving. The emotions feel real. You can’t help but get lost with Rick and Ilsa during the ups and downs of their layered relationship.

There was an interesting phenomenon happening when we watched this with our dog, Sam. Normally, he doesn’t care about movies or the tv at all. He won’t give the screen a second look. But during this picture, he was more or less watching with us. Do I think a big part of it was because there was a character named Sam and Humphrey Bogart kept saying his name? Perhaps. But I like to think our dog just has a good eye for cinema.