Uma Janela Suspeita

This thriller would have made a great Hitchcock movie. As it stands, it's not too bad but it could have been so much better. However, any film that can engage the attention for nearly two hours must have something going for it and this does have an intriguing story line. It also has the advantage of a good cast, Steve Guttenberg is his usual affable self doing the wrong thing for the right reasons, Elizabeth McGovern brings a wonderful hard edge to her performance and Isabelle Huppert is beautiful but nasty. Brad Greenquist manages to imbue his role with a sinister quality without saying barely a word. The plot doesn't really hold up unfortunately and there are plenty of scenes that stretch credulity just too far. However if you are prepared to accept the film on just a surface level you will find yourself nicely entertained.

Although he rarely gets respect from the critics, Steve Guttenberg was quite a big film star in the 1980's. He made his first impression as a pudgy teenager who gets killed by Gregory Peck in the excellent "Boys From Brazil"(1978). The classic "Diner"(MGM,1982) established him as a fine actor and in "Police Academy"(1984) he was suddenly a buff leading man in a critically maligned yet audience loved box office blockbuster. He was now a "STAR" and the smash hits kept coming: several "Police Academy" sequels, "Short Circuit"(1985) and its sequel, the Oscar-winning classic Ron Howard's "Coccoon"(Universal, 1985) whose pool scene established him as a minor sex symbol, and finally the massive blockbuster "Three Men and a Baby"(Disney, 1987). Director/writer Curtis Hanson then cast him in the excellent Hitchcockian thriller "The Bedroom Window"(1987) alongside another young star of the time Elizabeth McGovern who had made a major impact in "Ragtime"(Paramount, 1981). Now he was a full-fledged star of a Top "A" quality film. This excellent thriller will keep you glued to screen. Hanson's taut direction, the gorgeous cinematography, and the excellent cast will hold your attention. The script has a couple holes but it is still very good. And Guttenberg who had a goofy face and could look geeky if not photographed carefully looks great so this should have been another feather in his cap. However this film tanked. Why I will never know. After this he would have one more big hit with "Three Men and a Little Lady"(Disney, 1990) and that was it. His career never recovered. Nonetheless his best films are definitely worth a look and "The Bedroom Window" is certainly among his best.

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.

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 directed by Curtis Hanson who also adapts the screenplay from the novel The Witnesses written by Anne Holden. It stars Steve Guttenberg, Elizabeth McGovern, Isabelle Huppert, Brad Greenquist and Paul Shenar. Music is by Patrick Gleeson and Michael Shrieve and cinematography by Gilbert Taylor.

Terry Lambert (Guttenberg) is having an affair with his boss' wife Sylvia Wentworth (Huppert). Together one night at Terry's apartment, Sylvia witnesses from the bedroom window an attack on Denise (McGovern) and scares off the assailant. Not wishing to expose her affair with Terry, she refuses to report what she saw, instead allowing Terry to come forward to help the police finger the man who Sylvia saw by pretending it was he who witnessed the crime. But when Terry's evidence comes under scrutiny he finds himself the focus of the police search for the rapist and murderer at large...

With shades of Hitchcock and De Palma, The Bedroom Window is an effective neo-noir like thriller. Guttenberg's protagonist begins to pay severely for his illicit dalliances as he lands in a world quickly spinning out of his control. Duped and a victim of circumstance, this law abiding citizen just wants to do the right thing. This sets up a narrative that isn't shy to toy with audience expectations, keeping suspense high as the wronged man - aided by a spunky femme - sets about proving his innocence and ensuring the guilty man, Henderson (Grenquist) (who we know about from the off) is brought to justice. A couple of twists keep things perky, where even though some contrived events ask a lot of the audience, film never drifts into the mundane.

Hanson would strike a considerable chord with the neo-noir faithful when he brought L.A. Confidential to the screen in 1997. Here, much like with Bad Influence (1990), the director hones his skills as a visualist. The Baltimore locations are often shaded as being places of possible peril, while Gilbert Taylor's photography neatly blends golden promise in daytime shots with shadowy menace at night. Acting performances are hit and miss. Guttenberg surprisingly is effective in a serious role, mainly because it fits the character to have an easy going guy spun into disarray. Huppert struggles as the femme fatale by giving a one dimensional turn, but McGovern lights up the screen with poise and purpose and saves the film from taking a trip up average street in the final third. As for Greenquist? Visually scary and Hanson wisely keeps him as a silent assassin type.

Those contrivances, a dated feel and the valid charges of it being copyist have kept it from essential viewing status. But there is still a strong thriller in the mix and for anyone interested in Hanson's work this is a good addition to your required viewing list. 7/10