I’ve had this in my queue for a long time, since it looked vaguely Hitchcockian, and I’ve wanted to see more of Cary Grant. I finally gave in and watched it.
It’s okay. I’m surprised that it has an 8 on IMDB, but it is fun, even if it’s a little weak.
The story is mostly told from the perspective of the female lead. We learn what she learns, and we don’t get any information that isn’t directly shared with her. Most of the story is built on trying to reformulate the audience expectations. First, Cary Grant is a good guy. Then something reveals he’s a bad guy. Then he offers an explanation, and he’s back to being a good guy. This keeps on cycling through. It doesn’t feel like it’s masterfully handled, but it may just be an issue of the time period. Everything feels like it’s being spelled out too clearly to the audience.
The biggest problem is that the story is tonally confused. It plays out like a mystery, focusing on tension for some of the story. Then there are these witty, flirty exchanges between the leads that play like a romantic comedy. Things keep flopping around, and it never does either of these things especially well because of it.
There are two main reveals near the end. First, the location of the money. Second, one person isn’t who they seemed. The location of the money is something they’re all focused on, but it never seemed to be the important question. I certainly didn’t care. Even the female lead doesn’t seem too concerned about it. Come to think of it, she didn’t seem too concerned about her husband’s death either. The second reveal is something that I saw coming. Even from the beginning, the setup seemed fishy. It makes the female lead come across like she’s not especially bright.
Yet, perhaps because of the strange tonal shifts, this remains more watchable than I expected. Some familiar faces are nice to see - Matthau, Coburn, Ned Glass. Still, could use some trimming, and possibly a bit of restructuring to make the developments happen in the right spots.
No comments:
Post a Comment