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| Bujold and Robertson |
Michael Courtland (Cliff Robertson) loses his wife (Genevieve Bujold) and daughter when a kidnapping/ransom goes awry and they apparently die in a burning vehicle. Many years later Courtland meets a young woman, Sandra (also played by Bujold) in Europe who is the spitting image of his wife and falls in love with her, bringing her back to the states. But who is Sandra really? While this is nowhere in the league of its obvious model, Hitchcock's Vertigo, on its own terms it's a credible thriller. Paul Schrader's screenplay is weak on characterization, however. Also, the fact that Courtland has no suspicions concerning Sandra minimizes the film's suspense and its mystery factor. The best performances come from Bujold and John Lithgow as an associate of Courtland's; Robertson is comparatively somnambulistic and passionless. The movie is handsomely produced with outstanding cinematography from Vilmos Zsigmond. Great score by Bernard Herrmann, even if it's a little "too much" at times. Very well directed by De Palma.
Verdict: No Vertigo, but not without interest. ***.
I like this one a lot, mostly because Genevieve Bujold is so haunting and does a great job in the dual role, along with the fabulous Herrmann score and DePalma's still-thrilling filming techniques. I can even look beyond Cliff Robertson's very wooden performance, and Lithgow overacting all over the place and chewing the scenery (always entertainingly, though.) This one is not as successful a Hitchcock homage as Dressed to Kill, but a nice warm-up with a genuinely Hitchcockian score.
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Yes, it's not in the league of "Dressed to Kill." I didn't care for "Obsession" when it first came out but I gave it another look and saw that it really wasn't that bad on its own terms. Robertson can be such a stiff!
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