Jaws (1975)

Cautiously Recommended

USA

Feature Film

Director: Steven Spielberg

Writers: Peter Benchley, Carl Gottlieb

Cinematographer: Bill Butler

Composer: John Williams

Cast: Roy Scheider, Robert Shaw, Richard Dreyfuss, Lorraine Gary, Murray Hamilton

Spielberg’s ridiculously popular film – depicting a small island tourist resort’s chief of police’s attempts to battle greed, corruption, and a bloody big shark – is a thriller of mixed quality; the film’s performances are generally good, but Shaw’s mannered turn sticks out like a saw thumb compared to Scheider and Dreyfuss’s more refined, naturalistic performances, and Williams’s rather unsophisticated score can wear after a while, but the film is generally diverting, often entertaining, and by-and-large well made. Iain.Stott