The Treasure of the Sierra Madre falls into a really weird category of “movie classics” for me. I’m generally very honest about how I feel about old movies like this. If I think it earns its moniker of a classic and is still enjoyable to watch or otherwise significant, I’ll say so, but I also don’t mind admitting that I think something like Citizen Kane is boring and is overrated. See, The Treasure of the Sierra Madre is a weird one for me, because it’s not particularly my cup of tea most of the time, and yet it’s the kind of movie where I can see why it’s so highly regarded for others.

Let’s start with the story. The movie takes place in the 20s, and is about three men who are down on their luck financially and decide to set out on a journey to find gold. The set-up seems amicable enough between the three men, splitting all of their findings equally three ways, but human nature soon begins to kick in and interfere with their agreement. Greed and paranoia start to take over, and the men soon find themselves turning on each other.

The only reason why I don’t personally think The Treasure of the Sierra Madre amazing is personal preference. I’ve just always had a hard time getting into movies like this about the gold rush, and couldn’t quite connect with the plot as a result. However, I can recognize this about myself, and so while my personal enjoyment factor of the movie wasn’t as strong as it is for others, it’s the kind of movie I absolutely can’t begrudge anyone else for thinking it’s great.

Personally, I think the movie is at its best when it’s dealing with aspects of human psychology. The movie does a really good job at showing how greed and paranoia affect the human psyche, and so it’s during the moments when you question what the characters are going to do that makes it the most interesting. This is helped by some truly remarkable performances, particularly from Humphrey Bogart and Walter Huston (the father of the director of this movie). These men really sell the drama of what’s happening in the movie, and it was through these performances and unraveling of characters that I found the most enjoyment.

Otherwise, though, I wanted to like the movie more than I did at times. However, it’s like I said…I don’t really consider this to be a fault of the movie, but rather just a bit of a disconnect between my interests and the movie’s story. These kinds of movies are hard to review for me, because most people think you should emphasize “objective” quality over personal enjoyment, but I tend to think that both are equally important. I say this because I want it to be known that my personal enjoyment really is the only thing that contributed to me giving a lower score to The Treasure of the Sierra Madre than I would have otherwise. It’s for this reason that I wouldn’t ever argue with someone that thinks that this movie is an all-time classic or think it’s one of the best films ever made. I think that those are valid opinions, because the movie really does shine at what it’s setting out to accomplish. I just personally couldn’t get into it as much as others.

3.5/5