The Bedroom Window is one of those films you can just stick on to blow the cobwebs away when you're tired. It's not life-affirming or magnificent; but it's well constructed and a lot of fun to watch. The film is often compared to Hitchcock, and that's mostly owing to the central plot which clearly takes influence from Rear Window, although director Curtis Hanson does occasionally implement a Hitchcock-like style during the rest of the film. It is not, however, comparable to the films Brian De Palma made in the seventies and eighties. The film focuses on a man named Terry Lambert. Terry is having an affair with Sylvia; his boss' wife. Whilst at his apartment one night, Sylvia spots a man being attacked out of the window. The next morning, another girl turns up dead and Terry, thinking the two incidents may be related, decides to go to the police and tell them that he witnessed the attack. However, things soon start to spiral out of control when Sylvia will have nothing to do with it for fear of the affair being exposed, and the police begin suspecting Terry.

Steve Guttenberg; an actor often not taken seriously because of his ties to the Police Academy series, takes the lead role and does surprisingly well with it. Guttenberg cuts a likable figure who is easy to root for, and that is important in a film like this. The story moves well throughout; and although I initially felt that almost two hours was too long for a film like this; the time is well used and the film flies by. The Bedroom Window is based on a novel by Anne Holden; and directed by Curtis Hanson; the talented director of the 1997 masterpiece L.A. Confidential. Hanson's direction is assured and he does a good job of telling the story. The support cast is decent too; the casting of Isabelle Hupert is a bit of a surprise considering most of her previous films were made in her native France; but Elizabeth McGovern is a good choice as the victim of the attack towards the start. The first two thirds of the film are rather subdued; and so it's a bit of a surprise when the film explodes into life for the final half hour. However, the change works well and the payoff is worth it.

A very suspenseful Thriller has Steve Guttenberg taking responsibility for witnessing a crime that he did not see, speaking on behalf of his mistress, Isabelle Huppert, the wife of his boss. She was standing naked at his window and saw young Elizabeth McGovern being attacked, and it's Guttenberg who call the police and takes responsibility for seeing the crime. In court, his testimony is questioned by the annoying but brilliant defense attorney (Wallace Shawn) and ultimately causes the defendant to be dismissed on several technicalities, and soon, Huppert is being stalked by the culprit, and other macabre details come to light too.

It appears that Guttenberg's boss knew that the affair was taking place, and may have even encouraged the affair with his wife. A violent act at the ballet has Guttenberg in more trouble, and now, he only has the initial victim, McGovern, to protect him. This is definitely a very creepy thriller, more on the lines of DePalma than Hitchcock (although DePalma was greatly influenced by Hitchcock),and there's a great atmosphere that takes you all over Washington D. C. the killer never says a word, and he's up there with the many creepy looking villains of these type of films, although he seems to be young and innocent on the surface if a bit antisocial. A very tense musical tour, some very good photography, and some very interesting minor characters (particularly the two police officers involved in the case) helps this thriller keep the viewers attention.

Guttenberg may not have been my first choice for the leading role of the troubled young executive, but once I got past my apprehension, he was just fine, maybe a bit underplayed at times. Huppert's femme fatale is rather undeveloped, and it takes a while for McGovern ("Ragtime"/"Downton Abbey") to get heated up, but when she does, she proves that she's quite able to take care of herself. As for the villain, on the surface, he's a seemingly just a shy, awkward young man, and his lack of dialogue makes him all the creepier. The scene near the suburban neighborhood bar where Gutenberg tries to get a man to give up the phone booth he's using is annoying and once again asked the question, in these movies, why don't they just try to find another phone rather than bother an innocent person? I saw the same scene in another movie recently where the person who was being interrupted ripped the phone off the wall and handed the broken receiver to the rude person waiting. Still, overall, it is above average and interesting even if it's leading man in retrospective is not as interesting a hero as he should have been, and the conclusion is really nail biting.

'The Bedroom Window' has garnered a lot of Alfred Hitchcock comparisons. It is not hard to see why, quality-wise it is not in the same league as the best of Hitchcock's (one of my all-time favourite directors, so the comparison already fascinated me like any film compared to Hitchcock does) work but in terms of atmosphere and the tone of the story the influence is definitely there.

Starting with what doesn't quite work, which was actually not much, 'The Bedroom Window' after being strong for most of its duration loses its way in the final third when it tries to start resolving the many twists. Sadly it does struggle to do that with too much of the final third being contrived and implausible, feeling like what needed to be resolved either wasn't resolved enough or was done too conveniently. After the rest of the film being so promising and well done, it was sad that the most important section of the story was where the film most fell down.

Will always admire anybody who tries to do something different to usual and try and shy away from their usual personas/roles. And there are plenty of examples of actors being cast against type and giving great or more performances (James Stewart in 'Vertigo' and Rosamund Pike in 'Gone Girl' being two notable examples). Best known for the 'Police Academy' series, Steve Guttenberg takes on a career that couldn't be more different from his typical image. Sadly count me in as somebody who (although he gives it a decent bash) who found it didn't quite pay off, for the type of film Guttenberg just seemed too laid back and that he didn't seem comfortable toning things down.

However, 'The Bedroom Window' is very well made visually with a darkly slick look. The haunting but never overbearing music score is a good fit and gives the film and atmosphere good character. Hanson's direction is efficient, failing only in losing control of the twists in the final third, everywhere else he did very well.

The script is taut and intriguing and for much of the film the story was paced tightly. It's always compelling and entertaining with very nice, nail-biting at its best, suspense.

Guttenberg aside, the performances are fine. Particularly from a charming Elizabeth McGovern and a chilling Brad Greenquist. Isabelle Huppert is suitably calculating, and there are fine, if somewhat underused, turns from Wallace Shawn and Paul Shenar (who would have on a side note made for a better lead, although he typically played villains he had the intensity).

Overall, good film and almost a great one until going off the boil in the last third. 7/10 Bethany Cox