Post Numero Uno... A little behind... Rear Window

Alright, so I got this idea from Julie and Julia... the movie... I don't have a friend named Julia... Anyway, I'm starting a blog of reviews for AFI's Top 100. I, being someone that my friends go to for movie questions, feel as if I am a failure because I have yet to see the classics.

What I wanted to accomplish with this is to give older movies a new look. Growing up, my parents were not big movie watchers, so I was not like most kids of my generation watching Star Wars, Indiana Jones, or even E.T. So, being a virgin to good films such as the ones named above, and movies even older than that, I wanted to start reviewing them through the eyes of a person that has pretty much only watched movies of the ADD generation... ones that are an hour and a half long and are filled with boob and fart jokes.

So here I go. First review ever. Let's do it.

I watched Rear Window last night. It was my first legit Hitchcock film, besides Riding the Bullet which was a made for TV movie, and crap. My aunt insisted that I watch it because it was one of AFI's Top 100 and a movie that she thinks to be really scary.

The basic plot: L.B. "Jeff" Jeffries (James Stewart) is confined to his apartment in a wheelchair after suffering from a broken leg. When we first meet him, he has been in his cast for seven weeks, and will have the cast taken off in a week. In those seven weeks, he has taken to watching his neighbors in the apartment building across from his from his window. He has become engrossed in their stories and even has created nicknames for them like "Miss Torso" a ballerina who walks around in leotards and other outfits that show off her... well, torso. He has also become bored in his relationship with his girlfriend Lisa (Grace Kelly) because she seems "too perfect" for his rugged photographer's lifestyle. One night, Jeff sees some suspicious behavior going on between a husband and wife with obvious marital problems. Jeff is sure that the husband, Lars Thorwald, has murdered his wife, Anna Thorwald, chopped her up, and moved her body out of the apartment piece by piece. Jeff involves his detective friend, Doyle, in the investigation, but Doyle is quick to find evidence that Anna has just traveled to the country for her health, and he advises Jeff to stay out of other people's business. Jeff, and then in turn Lisa, are not convinced that Lars is innocent, so they do an investigation of their own.

First, the bad stuff. This part is short. I said at about an hour and fifteen minutes into the movie "When is this going to get good?" Not that the acting wasn't good, or that I wasn't enjoying it, but I'm used to a thriller that thrills me throughout... I was looking for daunting music and jumpy moments, but I wasn't getting any of that. I was only seeing Jeff trying to think of ways to convince Doyle that Lars was guilty, and Doyle shooting Jeff down at every turn. It was getting a little flat for me. However...

When there was about fifteen minutes left in the movie, I finally got scared. (Spoilers...) When Lars sees Jeff watching him, and then walks over to Jeff's apartment, it was obvious that something was about to happen, and the tension builds. Then, the phone rings, and Jeff picks up, thinking it's Doyle, and realizes too late its Lars... its a chilling moment, and I wanted to scream "NOOOOOOO!" because Jeff is in a wheelchair with a cast up to his waist, and he can't get to the door to lock it because there are stairs leading up to the door. There are these daunting footsteps that seem to last forever. There may have only been fifteen minutes left in the movie, but Hitchcock made it feel like an hour. I was paralyzed in my seat, praying that Jeff figure out a way to get out of there before Lars killed him.

I thought it was clever the use of the flash bulbs to blind Lars until Doyle and the police showed up. I'm not sure whether its a good thing or a bad thing that I thought it was funny that Lars tried to push Jeff out the window. I mean, I was definitely scared for him, but at the same time I wanted to laugh because it wasn't so simple as say stabbing him or clubbing him or something.

I liked the way the whole movie looked. I liked that there was a separate story for each of the neighbors. I knew there had to be a reason for all of them, and that was part of the reason that this movie kept my attention. I couldn't miss a moment to say look at a text message because if I looked away for a moment, I would miss some type of interaction. There was this feeling of community, everyone living together, going about their daily lives. I could see every quirky detail because everyone had their windows open in the heat wave in New York. I didn't even notice that we never left Jeff's apartment, but instead were watching everything from far away. We could only get closer when he got out his camera with the huge zoom lens or his binoculars. We rarely heard dialogue between the neighbors because they are so far away. We were watching everything through Jeff's perspective alone. I love a movie with great details like that. There were hints being dropped everywhere, and it was great.

What I also think was pretty great was the fact that I was really convinced that Lars didn't kill his wife. It was getting to the point where Jeff was grabbing at straws, and I really was disinclined to believe him. I actually said right before Lars started attacking Jeff "I really don't think he did it." But then, by the end, we know without a doubt, that Lars was the murderer.

I know this is probably going to sound lame, but I find it refreshing to watch older movies where the director is so much more modest with the women. Like, Miss Torso for example, in a remake today, would probably be naked a lot more, dancing around her apartment with windows wide open. The movie didn't need any nudity to make it compelling. The story was good enough on its own.

The love story in this was perfect. I'm usually pretty harsh on love stories in movies (such as The Departed... that is one of my favorite movies, but I feel like the whole affair thing was just too much. It dragged the movie down.), but in this case, I actually liked it. It was so subtle. At the beginning, Jeff says Lisa is too perfect for him, but amidst their detective work, he begins to see that she isn't so perfect and that she probably could handle herself in his adventurous lifestyle. It was actually really sweet, and didn't get in the way of the story,but instead pushed it forward. Just a few quick looks between them to know that they were falling for each other was all it had, and they were perfect.

I'm glad this movie had a happy ending. I know not all of them will, and that's fine, but here it worked. Everything gets summed up, even down to the tiniest detail with the neighbors. We have this nice, neat, little story all wrapped up for us with no loose ends. And, I laughed out loud when I saw Jeff with two broken legs. Karma I guess for peeping into everyone else's business. He's lucky. If this movie were written now, he would have been chopped up and eaten or something.

So... I haven't quite worked out a ranking system yet... but I'm going to try a few until I get one that best fits. If you have any ideas, let me know.

I give this movie a... 4.978 out of 5. It isn't perfect... but it's close. I really enjoyed it. It may have been flat, but it definitely needed to be because then the ending wouldn't have been as good. We had to think that Jeff was wrong so that Lars actually being the murderer would be a surprise and we could actually get scared.

BTW, I can see how Disturbia (the movie... not the song by Rihanna) is a knock off or spin off or interpretation... but the two cannot be compared. One was born in today's world when we need a MTV Movie Awards best kiss and graphic violence and bodies stacked to the ceiling. The other was born in a time... well, I still think we can do this today, but it was more common then... that all we needed was an idea to freak us out. I enjoyed both of those movies, but they are completely different.

Okay... so that was my first time ever doing anything like that. Thoughts? What did you think?

Next, I might write about Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid if I have time to watch it. If not, I might write about another movie that I've watched on AFI's Top 100... although, I haven't watched those in a little while. If worst comes to worst, I might have to write about A Serious Man (the one that was nominated for best picture this year) which sucked. But that's for another time.