When you use as a title one of the Gershwin Brothers great ballads you have me half sold on a film already. Some elements of the classic noir film Pitfall are present in Someone To Watch Over Me.

Unlike Dick Powell who is an insurance investigator , Tom Berenger is a detective with the NYPD. He's a regular blue color guy with wife Lorraine Bracco and a young son. He draws the task of guarding society woman Mimi Rogers who was the witness to a brutal killing by psychotic mobster Andreas Katsulas. The roles that Rogers, Bracco, and Katsulas play were done in Pitfall by Lizabeth Scott, Jane Wyatt, and Raymond Burr.

Like that line from the Gershwin song Berenger is lost and intrigued in the woods of Mimi's glamorous world. Berenger's head does more than turn as he gets into an affair with the woman he's supposed to be guarding.

Burr was a terrifying and brutal villain in Pitfall and Katsulas will scare the pants off you in this film. He's a bomb with a faulty timer. You never know when he's going off.

Film makers seem to love the Guggenheim Museum in New York to shoot glitzy gatherings in and no exception here. In fact the whole thing is shot on a budget to dwarf Pitfall.

All to good advantage as the leads give great performances. Look for a nice turn from Jerry Orbach as Berenger's superviser.

In Queens, Mike Keegan (Tom Berenger) is celebrating with his wife Ellie (Lorraine Bracco),his son Tommy and friends his recent promotion to detective in a precinct in Manhattan. Meanwhile, in a fancy club, the socialite Claire Gregory (Mimi Rogers) witnesses the murder of the owner of the place by the powerful mobster Joey Venza (Andreas Katsulas). Mike is assigned to protect her in the night shift in her apartment in Manhattan. When Venza threatens Claire, the contact of Mike with Claire gets closer and conflicts him, dividing between the love for his family and the heat passion for Claire and the fascination for her world.

Today I have just watched "Someone to Watch Over Me" maybe for the sixth or seventh time, and every time I see this movie, I conclude that it is an underrated stylish masterpiece. Everything works perfectly in this film. The story may be not original, the conclusion is quite moralist, but there is an important and unusual approach regarding the difference of classes and consequently of worlds, which is the basis for the conflictive romance between Claire and Mike. The direction of Ridley Scott is tight and perfect, as usual, using different angles camera and magnificent photography and shadows in the night, to express the differences between the two worlds. There is one specific scene that I love, when Mike is sat with his face half illuminated in the hall of Claire's apartment, totally confused and with his feelings divided. The cast is very inspired, and in my opinion, this is the best role of Mimi Rogers, amazingly perfect as an elegant, wealthy and needy of love woman and wearing a beautiful hair style. Tom Berenger is outstanding as Mike, and Lorraine Bracco is also fantastic in the role of a simple woman and wounded wife. The music score is awesome, highlighting the three versions of the song of George and Ira Gershwin, which gives the title of the film, specially the last one with the interpretation of Roberta Flack. My vote is ten.

Title (Brazil): "Perigo na Noite" ("Danger in the Night")

Ridley Scott's SOMEONE TO WATCH OVER ME had the misfortune to come out during a time when FATAL ATTRACTION was going to change the whole look of the psycho-thriller movie. Thus by comparison, this film feels very ponderous and dated. It's a mixed bag of a production, with some decent performances and a nice visual style, but it doesn't really do much we haven't seen before.

It's clear from the outset that Scott is most interested in the dark and brooding cinematography here, because this is a fine-looking movie. The plot, which is about a cop who has to protect a woman who witnessed a mob murder, is less intriguing and indeed rather predictable. Tom Berenger is an acceptable hero and Mimi Rogers is ever-intriguing as the object of his desire, but I can't help but think there's a little too much romance here and not enough thrills. Jerry Orbach props up the supporting cast, as in so many films.