Dir: Robert Zemeckis
Starring
Michelle Pfeiffer
Harrison Ford
2000
R, 128 m
RATING: 5 out of 10
Michelle Pfeiffer stars as Claire Spencer, wife to brilliant doctor Harrison Ford (Norman Spencer). Residing in beautiful, rural Vermont, the two seem to have a perfect life until Claire starts having visions of a drowned girl throughout the home.
Moving slower than an old woman driving through LA traffic, the first hour and a half of the film is exhaustingly tired, and all the necessary cliches to annoy are in place: loud ringing phones, Pfeiffer over-reactions to everyday noises, wind blowing through windows, etc. The opening is especially out of place, with Pfeiffer and Harrison bidding farewell to daughter, a character who never again resurfaces except to use as a crutch to explain things or invoke sympathy at the film's climax.
Not only does the screenplay borrow heavily from Rear Window and Psycho, but it's also lax in character development. All performances feel wooden, with Ford going through the motions, save for Pfeiffer, who fares best and makes the entire thing durable.
The ending, though effectively tense but undone by the Psycho theme butchered and ripped in the loud score, is too terse and leaves many unanswered questions. Hitchcock fans should stick to Hitchcock, and though there are a couple of decent scares and thrills through it's plodding three-quarters, the film really begins picking up steam towards its not-so-grand finale. Still, it's worth Pfeiffer's turn as the strong Claire to watch.
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