Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Maybe I Am Easily Pleased, March 4, 2004
I just watched this movie again last night, having watched it before when it was first released. My motive for writing this review is to add one positive contribution to this collection of downward pointing thumbs. Well, yes, it is sort of an ordinary cloak and dagger film, but I enjoyed seeing a female lead character who was gutsy, a lady who didn't follow the stereotype of the ankle sprainer who has to lean on the big strong man for protection. Actually it is a good thing that Kelly McGillis isn't prone to ankle injuries, because she certainly does a lot of running in this flick. She just seems to be in a hurry wherever she goes, and trots along at a good clip even when she isn't being chased. Sometimes I felt I was watching another version of Run Lola Run. Anyway the time period is the Joe McCarthy era, and Kelly loses her job because she refuses to name names to Congress. By chance she discovers some strange happenings that indicate maybe there are some ex (current?) Nazis inflitrating her pleasant neighborhood. Well the FBI is involved, too, and the chase is on. Evil people flit in and out, and surprises happen when people open doors. Admittedly the tale is sort of muted Hitchcock, and not particularly exceptional in its plot, but I found it to be a pleasant thriller to watch. I must also confess that I was mesmerized by Ms McGillis's breathtaking beauty. She was about 30 when this movie was made, and, gosh, I just fell in love with her.
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6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
For the price, a best buy at 3 ½ stars, July 4, 2003
Though the Australian reviewers comments are too harsh, they are entertaining with some points well-taken. But this reviewer would move the overall rating up to 3 ½ stars out of 5 possible. Having purchased the DVD and seen it without any preconceptions or prior reviews, this reviewer was pleasantly satisfied: not a classic film, but quite entertaining, keeping one on the edge of the seat pretty much throughout. There is never a dull moment, but not overly so as is too often the case in todays hyperactive and mindless action and adventure flicks. This film was definitely not written by 13-year-olds for 13-year-olds and contains a lot of well-presented material. Kelly McGillis gives a credible performance as a balanced and generally level-headed woman being persecuted by governmental agencies. Her portrayal is not the weepy, hysterical and too-vulnerable type that can find its way into films like this. Mandy Patinkin does well as a chilling, oily and thoroughly corrupted and unscrupulous politician/attorney (or whatever) with too much power in the wrong places. Jessica Tandy is good in what few scenes she has; too bad she couldnt have had a more central role. As to the production values, the film is the letterboxed theatrical presentation at 1.66:1 (as stated on the case, and this seemed about right.) The picture, for a 1988 film, while not exceptional, is mostly clear, though with suggestions of fuzziness for purists. Overall, the image is on the dark side and there is some loss of detail in deep shade scenes, though not annoyingly so. Color fidelity of details in some scenes struck this reviewer as almost exceptionally good. The Dolby Digital mono sound is strong and clean. There are no annoying advertising impositions or preliminary and unrelated material to try to get around (something becoming increasing annoying in many new DVD releases, sometimes necessitating drastic action to curtail!) The DVD is well-packaged in a quality case. If you like a thriller in the Hitchcock vein with reasonable and well-restrained message content that doesnt get in the way of the story, this DVD is a good buy for the price, and recommended.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A tense and well made thriller!, January 28, 2008
"The house on Carol Street" is a bold look about these tense times of furious McCarthyism (1951) in which a young assistant refuses to answer certain information that's why she must be fired. Once the decision ahs been made, she has to earn her life, and decides to take as job as reader of a crusty employer (the unforgettable Jessica Tandy), by just $15 by week.
But trying to get the exact address, she meets a man who behaves nervously, that will be the thread that will lead her to get involved with a Nazi smuggling web that surreptitiously deals with undesirable refugees. On the road she will be involved in a fugacious love affair with a FBI agent. Mandy Patinkin is fabulous as the main villain in this likable film directed by the talented Peter Yates, that knew to impress all the possible realism that certainly remits us to Hitchcokian sequences (as the well made one in Central Station).
Recommended.
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