The Woman in the Window

Amy Adams stars in "The Woman in the Window" from 2021 (actually made in 2018), along with Gary Oldman, Fred Hechinger,Julianne Moore,Jennifer Jason Leigh, Wyatt Russell, and Brian Tyree Henry. The screenplay is by Tracy Letts.

First things first, I didn't read the book, so my review will have nothing to do with it.

Anna Fox is a child psychologist, who, after a tragedy, has become an agoraphobic, pill-popping alcoholic who lives in a dark New York City house with her cat, Punch. She spies on her neighbors and checks them out on the Internet.

She befriends a boy from across the street, Ethan (Hechinger) who brings her a gift from his mother. Later, a woman (Julianne Moore) visits Anna. She seems to be Ethan's mother, Jane Russell.

Anna is uneasy about Ethan, because after watching their apartment, she thinks his father is intimidating and worries about the boy. The, through her window, she sees Jane stabbed by someone.

However, the police don't believe her. Jane's husband (Russell) is livid with her and introduces her to his wife Jane (Leigh) - obviously not the woman Anna met. Despite her protests to the police, Anna is clearly written off as a nut.

I actually thought this a very good and effective film. I mentioned Copycat in my subject - I am referring to a very good film starring Sigourney Weaver from some years back. There were elements of it, as well as the obvious homage to Rear Window and the Stanwyck film Witness to Murder.

In short, The Woman in the Window is derivative, but still good, with quite a surprising ending. I thought the acting was terrific. Amy Adams, a very pretty woman, manages to look bloated with bags under her eyes in this, which is perfect for the role.

One thing I loved were the film references, to Dark Passage, Laura, and Spellbound, as well as the name "Jane Russell", and that spiral staircase that screamed Vertigo.

I highly recommend this film. I know people who read the book hated it, but if you didn't, I think you'll like it.

From the release delays to the bad word of mouth, I was expecting this to be a trainwreck of a movie. Instead, what I got was a perfectly enjoyable suspense thriller. Sure, it's has it's flaws, the first half seems rushed, and some actors were underutilized (Jennifer Jason Leigh in particular) but I did not see that final twist coming - a twist that actually made sense.

I have not read the book, but even if I had it's only fair to judge this as a separate piece of work - because it is. So even if the book WAS better, it's got nothing to do with this piece of entertainment to me for they are two completely different experiences. Kudos to this film for not sucking.

A housebound woman witnesses a brutal act in the house opposite, but is all as it seems?

I have read the book, it's a great book, this is a moderately good adaptation of it. The issue here, was the pacing, at times it felt very dragged out, with some overlong scenes, and crazily long pauses, there's tension, and then there's overly slow, this couldn't find the balance.

We've had the woman on the train, and at times this just felt like a rehashed version of that, only that was much better.

I did think the acting was first rate, and despite such an illustrious cast, I did think that Amy Adams was the real standout.

It's watchable, I wanted it to be great, 6/10.

First... Ignore low reviews from people who read the book. This is a movie! I hate it when people expect a film, lasting under 2 hours, to be similar to the book. Probably 0.001 percent of viewers have or will read the book. It's a film to review. So here goes, it's entertaining. Original, under a genre of Hitchcock. Great acting and clever camera work. Enjoy it. Just don't expect it to be exactly like the book and you'll be entertained. Those reviewers remind me of annoying reviews about a product , giving it one star, and only write about a late delivery! It helps no one.

This desperately wants to be like Rear Window. But despite the fantastic cast of Amy Adams, Gary Oldman, Jennifer Jason Leigh and Anthony Mackie, the script just seems clunky and slow. Hitchcockian, this isn't. If anything, it makes you want to see Rear Window instead.