The Bedroom Window (1987)

I came across this movie on YouTube, and decided to give it a look. I firmly believed that this would be one of those good bad movies, which are corny but harmless fun movies to watch. But boy was I surprised.The best thing about this movie, despite Steve Guttenberg and his lack of acting, and few loopholes, is that it keeps you absolutely hooked, from the start to the finish. Everyone else does their part well, but Brad Greenquist is absolutely brilliant. I loved Elizabeth McGovern as well, who did a good job with her character. She also gives strong Audrey Horne vibes.Overall, it feels like a Alfred Hitchcock movie, and that in itself is a huge compliment.

If Alfred Hitchcock had still been alive and making movies when "The Bedroom Window" project had been green-lit by the studio, I'm sure he would have been offered the job as director. Indeed, the premise of the movie fits comfortable with many of the movies he made. However, I am pretty sure the Master of Suspense would have not only insisted on the script being rewritten, he would have insisted on someone else being in the lead. The script should have been a lot tighter; the movie runs on much longer than it should have. Also, the characters in the movie make a lot of stupid decisions that lengthen the crisis, when characters of even average intelligence would have done a lot smarter things. And while Steve Guttenberg has been okay in other movies, here he is extremely miscast. His performance just adds to the air of dumbness that surrounds his character.In fairness, while the movie is stretched out, I can't say that there are any boring sections anywhere. And there are some well-executed moments that I think Hitchcock would have approved of. Still, I don't think this is a movie to actively seek out - wait until it crosses your path, preferably as a free screening.

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.

An innocent man (Steve Guttenberg) has a one-night stand with his boss's wife (Isabelle Huppert). She spots a woman (Elizabeth McGovern) being attacked outside but she can't call the cops because it would blow her marriage to Gutenberg's boss (Paul Shenar). So Guttenberg, honest citizen that he is, when he discovers that another woman was attacked and killed nearby only half an hour later, comes forward and claims to have witnessed the first attack, merely intending to pass on the information given to him by Huppert. Well -- never bear false witness against thy neighbor, as they say.This simple attempt to help the police nab a murderer turns rapidly twisted. When he meets the first near-victim, McGovern, she immediately twigs to what happened, but agrees to keep quiet for the moment. But then Guttenberg finds himself in court, supposed to identify the heavy (Greenquist) and we discover through cross-examination that he is NEAR-SIGHTED and can't identify objects at a distance, let alone faces. (Not that it matters because, after all, he never saw the creep in the first place.) The plot gets practically labyrinthine. Guttenberg winds up the chief suspect when Huppert is murdered too.He barely escapes arrest and holes up with the now-sympathetic McGovern. Guttenberg and McGovern hatch a plan to trap the murderer. She will serve as bait. They'll follow the flagitious creep into one of his seedy haunt and McGovern will act like the doxy that the murderer is attracted to, just to get him to try to kill her. But everything will be okay, see, because not only will Guttenberg keep a close watch on her, and not only will he alert the police a few minutes after she enters this dive, but she will keep a can of mace handy -- just in case.I ask you, the alert viewer, does this scenario unfold as planned? Elizabeth McGovern has a quirkily interesting bone structure. She seems all mandible and tiny mouth at times, but she's vibrant. Steve Guttenberg has hair on his brawn and that's about it. Otherwise he's as helpless as the character he plays. If Isabelle Huppert can act, it isn't evident in this film. The killer is so formed and so groomed that he looks like he's wearing one of those masks of deformity in that Twilight Zone episode about greedy heirs.Didn't the director, Curtis Hanson, go on to make "L.A. Confidential"? That was a nicely done piece of work. Here, everything seems clumsy and contrived, down to the small bit parts. Just before the inevitable violent climax, a uniformed police officer is introduced to delay McGovern's rescue, and the scene is embarrassing to watch. Dick Olsen has a bit part as a late shopper. He's a neat guy and always reliable. Paul Shenar as the cuckolded hubby has a striking face that seems made for the stage and he does a fine job too.That louche joint where McGovern attracts the attention of the murderer, where she plays pool with a couple of hairy apes, was shot at a bar in Carolina Beach, in North Carolina, not far from where I lived. The way the interior is set up, it's clear that this is supposed to be a dangerous and dirty dive. Actually it appears rather more elegant on screen than it did in reality.Overall, this is Hitchcock territory and it brings tears to the eyes to imagine what he would have done with this story.