Dick Tracy

"Their turf. Their game. Their rules. They didn't count on HIS law..."

1990 1h 45m EN

😐

6.2

MID

🍅

63%

FRESH

👌

METACRITIC

⭐

6.2

IMDB

★6.2TMDB · 1,094🍅63%Rotten Tomatoes●68Metacritic★6.2IMDB · 69,678

AdventureComedyCrime

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

The comic strip detective finds his life vastly complicated when Breathless Mahoney makes advances towards him while he is trying to battle Big Boy Caprice's united mob.

“Their turf. Their game. Their rules. They didn't count on HIS law...”

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Cast

Warren Beatty
Dick Tracy
Al Pacino
Big Boy Caprice
Madonna
Breathless Mahoney
Dustin Hoffman
Mumbles
James Caan
Spaldoni
Charlie Korsmo
Kid
Glenne Headly
Tess Trueheart
Mandy Patinkin
88 Keys

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Warren Beatty
Writers: Jack Epps Jr., Jim Cash
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 7

ERA

Did you know

36 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 7

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Warren Beatty, shot by Vittorio Storaro. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 7

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Danny Elfman. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 7

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Richard Marks shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 7

CAST

Did you know

Warren Beatty and Al Pacino and Madonna carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 7

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "Their turf. Their game. Their rules. They didn't count on HIS law...".

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 7

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0099422 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Warren Beatty directs. Vittorio Storaro behind the camera. Danny Elfman scores. Richard Marks cuts. Profitable at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

136 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
2Directed by Warren Beatty, shot by Vittorio Storaro. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
3Original score by Danny Elfman. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
4Editor Richard Marks shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
5Warren Beatty and Al Pacino and Madonna carry the top of the cast.
6Marketing tagline: "Their turf. Their game. Their rules. They didn't count on HIS law...".
7IMDB entry: tt0099422 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
8Classified under 19 themes, including "martial arts", "corruption", "fight", "gangster".

The technical file

Cinematography: Vittorio Storaro
Original score: Danny Elfman
Editing: Richard Marks
Production design: Richard Sylbert
Costume design: Milena Canonero
Makeup / hair: Lynda Gurasich
Sound: David E. Campbell
Stunt coordinator: William H. Burton Sr.
Runtime: 105 min · 1h 45m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $47,000,000
Box office: $103,738,726
Return: 221% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): PG
IMDB: Dick Tracy (1990)
Rotten Tomatoes: 63% 🍅 Fresh
Metacritic: 68/100
IMDB rating: 6.2/10 · 69,678 votes
MPAA: PG

Awards

Won 3 Oscars. 9 wins & 37 nominations total

Academy Award for Best Makeup and Hairstyling
Academy Award for Best Production Design

Individual records documented via Wikidata; the summary above may count more.

Also by

Warren Beatty

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Trailers & featurettes

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Community reviews

What people are saying

John Chard2014-03-12
★ 7/10
A bit too mellow yellow. Dick Tracy is directed by Warren Beatty and written by Jim Cash and Jack Epps Jr. Based on Chester Gould’s comic strip creation of the same name, it stars Beatty, Al Pacino, Madonna, Glenne Headly, Dustin Hoffman, Charlie Korsmo, Charles Durning and William Forsythe. Music is by Danny Elfman, with songs by Stephen Sondheim, and cinematography is by Vittorio Storaro. Punk Rock band X-Ray Spex once sang about The Day The World Turned Day-Glo, Warren Beatty’s Dick Tracy was exactly that. The live action cartoon is a feast for the eyes, as the city backdrop for this cops and gangsters tale is a fountain of bright, lurid primary colours. The characters are drawn brilliantly, where the good guys are very much human, but the bad guys are a bunch of grotesques, like a mutant gathering under one coalition banner. All star casting, striking costuming, amazing effects work, quality songs and a brisk musical score (Elfman reworks his score for Batman from the previous year), Dick Tracy as a production is grade “A” stuff. It also did very well at the box office, where although it didn’t reach Disney’s expectation levels financially, it coined to the tune of over $100 million in profit Worldwide. Not bad for a film some still think was a flop! It’s a film that feels a lot better watching it now than it did back on release, to be able to view it as a smart technical accomplishment for the time it was made. The cast factor also makes it something of a fascinating experience, watching legends like Pacino and Hoffman absolutely buy into the cartoon excess on show. However, the old problem with it just will never go away. Yes the plot is very simple, but that’s easy to accept these days, it was after all a gangster movie made for all the family, it’s that Beatty’s portrayal of Tracy is too under played. He’s a good guy, we know that, we are on his side, but it’s a flat characterisation, he’s never pushed to be anything other than a cool dude. This of course lets the monstrous villains take the film by the scruff of the neck, as most villains tend to anyway, but for a film carrying his name, you expect a bit more from Dick Tracy the man. Still, Dick Tracy is a fun movie experience, not all it can be, but enjoyable regardless. 7/10
talisencrw2016-08-12
★ 8/10
I'm heartily disappointed that this didn't produce sequels. If any fine actor/director of the period was perfect for the role of Dick Tracy, it was Beatty. He does very good work here. It's as if he took Tim Burton's template for 'Batman' and simply adjusted it for his comic-book picture. Madonna isn't bad here either, simply because she's pretending to be Marilyn Monroe, something she'd been wanting to do all of her career to that point. And the rogues gallery here is perhaps second in quality only to the aforementioned DC Caped Crusader. In retrospect, that perhaps was the picture's weakest link--no true criminal really dominated proceedings and stuck in one's mind. Had they tried the time-tested hookup of two baddies to get in Dick's hair just enough to rile him, it may have worked better. Still one of the most enjoyable, and underrated, comic-book pictures of the past three decades.
CinemaSerf2025-02-09
★ 6/10
Debonair and brightly clad detective “Dick Tracy” (Warren Beatty) is out to stop an all out war breaking out in the city after mobster “Big Boy” (Al Pacino) slays “Lips” (Paul Sorvino) with a view to running the whole show. Part of that cunning plan is to unite all the criminal fraternities and get rid of this pesky cop. Meantime, “Tracy” alights on the permanently hungry “Kid” (Charlie Korsmo) whom he has to look after as well as his girlfriend “Tess” (Glenne Headly) as the bullets fly and things become seriously perilous for all three of them. He’s also got to figure out just what angle nightclub chanteuse “Breathless Mahoney” (Madonna) has in all of this - and is she at all to be trusted? Oh, and there’s also the malevolent “Blank” to deal with too. In many ways this brightly coloured series of escapades reminded me of “Bugsy Malone” (1976) only without the custard pies. It’s decently enough paced and there is the odd action sequence, for I found it to be just a bit too stylistic with not enough emphasis on the characters or on the story. Indeed, that last element is really pretty weak as none of the acting talent seem to quite know whether to play the menacing or the pantomime. There are a few moments from Pacino that raise it’s game now and again, but for the most part this is all a pale imitation of Edward G. Robinson or Robert Mitchum on a bad day. It’s all disappointingly tame and Madonna’s contributions - musically or otherwise, show her limitations as an actor all too clearly, too.