Final answer:
Martin Goldsmith's comment that James M. Cain 'wrote with a meat cleaver' highlights Cain's stark, forceful writing style characteristic of film noir, which conveys the dark and gritty aspects of reality without unnecessary details.
Step-by-step explanation:
When writer Martin Goldsmith says that novelist James M. Cain "wrote with a meat cleaver," he is implying that Cain's writing style is direct, forceful, and devoid of excess. In the context of film noir writing in general, this means that the prose cuts straight to the essence of the subject matter, often characterized by a gritty, hard-boiled demeanor with a focus on the darker aspects of human nature and society. Cain's style, much like other noir writers, involves a stark, unsentimental approach to storytelling that strips away pretense to reveal the raw and sometimes brutal reality of the characters and their situations.