Testigo

Directed by future phenom Curtis (L.A. Confidential, Wonder Boys) Hanson, THE BEDROOM WINDOW is an elegant Hitchcock homage, and an example of good 1980s moviemaking. Its got a certain vibe, thanks to terrific cinematography by the great Gilbert Taylor, production design by Ron Foreman, and expert direction by Hanson. REAR WINDOW it ain't, but this jazzy film is still worth a look. Lighten up folks!

Steve Guttenberg is a real surprise here, playing the innocent suspected of being a killer. His transformation to hero type is not always believable, but his performance is earnest. If you throw out the somewhat of a stretch ending, you are left with a twisty thriller that delivers strong entertainment value. The movie is quite tense at times, and the Baltimore filming location works. I put this film in the same category as movies like "Red Rock West" and "Clay Pigeons". All three have a mostly believable script, competent acting, and most importantly, all three are very entertaining. "The Bedroom Window" is recommended of it's type. - MERK

The Bedroom Window is one of those films you can just stick on to blow the cobwebs away when you're tired. It's not life-affirming or magnificent; but it's well constructed and a lot of fun to watch. The film is often compared to Hitchcock, and that's mostly owing to the central plot which clearly takes influence from Rear Window, although director Curtis Hanson does occasionally implement a Hitchcock-like style during the rest of the film. It is not, however, comparable to the films Brian De Palma made in the seventies and eighties. The film focuses on a man named Terry Lambert. Terry is having an affair with Sylvia; his boss' wife. Whilst at his apartment one night, Sylvia spots a man being attacked out of the window. The next morning, another girl turns up dead and Terry, thinking the two incidents may be related, decides to go to the police and tell them that he witnessed the attack. However, things soon start to spiral out of control when Sylvia will have nothing to do with it for fear of the affair being exposed, and the police begin suspecting Terry.

Steve Guttenberg; an actor often not taken seriously because of his ties to the Police Academy series, takes the lead role and does surprisingly well with it. Guttenberg cuts a likable figure who is easy to root for, and that is important in a film like this. The story moves well throughout; and although I initially felt that almost two hours was too long for a film like this; the time is well used and the film flies by. The Bedroom Window is based on a novel by Anne Holden; and directed by Curtis Hanson; the talented director of the 1997 masterpiece L.A. Confidential. Hanson's direction is assured and he does a good job of telling the story. The support cast is decent too; the casting of Isabelle Hupert is a bit of a surprise considering most of her previous films were made in her native France; but Elizabeth McGovern is a good choice as the victim of the attack towards the start. The first two thirds of the film are rather subdued; and so it's a bit of a surprise when the film explodes into life for the final half hour. However, the change works well and the payoff is worth it.

It's a thriller set in Baltimore, Maryland, in the 1980s. It's based on the 1971 novel, "The Witnesses," by Anne Holden. It follows a young executive who, amid an affair with his boss's wife, winds up under suspicion for three murders.

Terry Lambert (Steve Guttenberg) is an executive in a construction company owned by Collin Wentworth (Paul Shenar). Terry has had the hots for Collin's wife, Sylvia (Isabelle Huppert), and convinces her to leave a party early and come to his place. After their tryst, he goes to the bathroom. Sylvia hears screaming outside and, from the bedroom window, witnesses a man brutally assaulting a woman. The man runs away when he sees Sylvia. Unfortunately, another young woman is murdered nearby that same evening. To protect their relationship, Terry goes to the police claiming to have been the witness to the assault from the window. He meets the assault victim, Denise (Elizabeth McGovern), at a lineup. From Sylvia's description, Terry thinks he recognizes the villain in the lineup, Chris Henderson (Brad Greenquist), but is uncertain.

During the rest of the film, Terry begins to follow Henderson. Through the complex storyline, the police begin to suspect Terry of two murders because they know he has lied to them, though they're not clear about what. A final murder forces Terry and Denise to try to set a trap for the killer, and the film's climax reveals how that effort went.

"The Bedroom Window" is a pretty good thriller for the first hour and a half. But, unfortunately, the final half-hour includes plot sequences that seriously detract from the believability of the ending.

Many reviewers perceive a lack of chemistry between Guttenberg and Huppert. I had no issue with this, considering Huppert's character was naturally manipulative and self-serving. McGovern's role suffers from some of the silly script at the film's end, but she is effective through the trial scenes. Shenar's character was a little too clueless.

This is the kind of thriller you'd expect Alfred Hitchcock to do with someone like James Stewart or Cary Grant as everyman.

Here we have STEVE GUTTENBERG as the man in big trouble after witnessing a murder from his lover's bedroom window. He's having an affair with the boss' wife and nobly tells her that he'll give details of the assailant (which she saw) to keep their affair hidden from her husband. So far, so good. The story is stylishly photographed with the appropriate menacing mood and atmosphere.

But he soon becomes the man suspected of the crime and it's from that point on that the plot contrivances become just a little too implausible, straining credibility until the very suspenseful ending. Too bad. Otherwise, it's a tricky piece of entertainment and well worth watching.

ISABELLE HUPPERT has a little trouble getting her lines across with her French accent being quite a handicap but she's beautiful to look at. ELIZABETH McGOVERN does a nice job as Guttenberg's partner in finding the real killer.

It moves quickly under writer/director CURTIS HANSON's direction. While many consider it "counterfeit Hitchcock", it's still worth a look.