Phil Karlson’s 99 River Street is, along with Kansas City Confidential, an exemplar of the director’s brutal, cynical, economical approach to noir.

The plot is routine, but the direction, which seems to dislike anything that smacks of the phrase "don't get excited,'' makes the picture worth seeing.

A romantic-tinged noir focusing on unabashed wash-outs and sell-outs, 99 River Street is a lot less hopeless than it initially seems on the surface, and is an enjoyable, minor genre gem.

99 River Street, arguably Karlson's greatest film and certainly his most beautifully brutal, is a film driven by the fury of a man who is tired of being life's punching bag.