Rear Window
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Year: 1954
Stars: James Stewart, Grace Kelly, Thelma Ritter, Wendell Corey, Raymond Burr
I'm ashamed to call myself a film fan and admit I've never watched this before. I have wanted to for a very long time, but just never quite got around to it. The fact that I love a lot of Hitchcock movies makes it even worse. I have owned this (and 14 other Hitchcock films) since December, when a box set was on a pretty good deal in Zavvi and I couldn't resist. However, it's taken until now for me to get around to watching any of them.
The premise behind Rear Window is an excellent one, and with Hitchcock's reputation for building up suspense, this provides a very neat way to do it. Jeff (James Stewart) is laid up in his apartment after breaking his leg, and all he has to do each day is watch his neighbours go about their business through his apartment window. During the course of the film, he thinks he spots a murder...
Hitchcock, as ever, builds the tension admirably and, until the final 15 minutes, it's hard not to wonder what will happen. However, I was unimpressed by the ending. It just seemed so obvious. A large part of me wished the red herrings hadn't been red herrings - it would have made for a much better story. Perhaps it's just that after hearing so many positive things about this film, it could never live up my expectations. Technically, it's still a work of genius and is still, after all this years, totally innovative. But in terms of the plot, I wish there had been a better story in there.
Rating: 3.5 out of 5
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