Strangers on a Train Review

I recently saw Strangers on a Train released in 1951 and directed by Alfred Hitchcock. This movie is really like nothing that I have ever seen before. The title may be a little misleading because only a few scenes are actually shot on trains. The beginning is somewhat confusing and slow but once the plot starts to unfold, it’s one of the most suspenseful and exciting movies that I’ve seen in a long time. The movie starts off with the opening scene only showing the feet of the two main actors whose names in the movie were Guy and Bruno. By doing this, the viewer really can’t tell what to expect other then the fact that they’re on a train. Once Bruno introduces himself to Guy, a rich tennis player dating the senator’s daughter, Guy’s life starts to unravel.

The main plot is that Bruno is “a little wacky” and tells Guy that if he kills his father for him, then Bruno would kill Guy’s old wife who won’t divorce him. Guy laughs it off and goes about his regular routine but the next night Guy returns home from a tennis practice and Bruno is waiting for him across the street in an alley. Bruno tells him that he “did the job” of killing Guy’s wife and that he awaits for Guy to return the favor and finish off his father. Throughout the rest of the story Bruno follows Guy around and threatens to plant one of Guy’s lighters at the crime scene so that he will be charged for a murder he didn’t have anything to do with.

What starts to happen here is what makes the movie truly exciting. Even though Guy had nothing to do with the murder of Merriam, his wife, it seems like he’s already defending himself and that he’s going to have to do a lot to prove his innocence. Anne, the senator’s daughter and Guy’s girlfriend, explains to her father what happened and they all meet to talk about how there’s nothing to worry about. This all changes however when Guy’s alibi, a man he spoke with on a train during the murder, can’t vouch for him because he says that he was to drunk and couldn’t remember anything. This is when the problems start and Guy and Anne begin to panic.

While Bruno is following Guy there is one scene in particular that really plays a big role. While Guy is out with Anne, Bruno comes out of no where and starts talking to Guy. There is then an extreme close up on a necklace that Bruno is wearing that says “Bruno” in gold letters. What makes this really significant is that Guy tells Anne that he’s never met this person before but then later in the movie Bruno goes to talk to Guy and he is again wearing the same gold necklace. This is when Anne realizes that something very bad is happening to them.

I think the reason that I really enjoyed the movie was due in part to the work of the main actors: Farley Granger (Guy Haines) and Robert Walker (Bruno Anthony). These two really did an amazing job of playing their roles and really made the plot very believable. I would characterize their dialogue as very realistic with the exception that most of the things Bruno said where completely crazy. Hitchcock really does a great job of creating suspense that lasts throughout the movie without having to have any big Hollywood things such as fighting or explosions.

Overall if I had to rate this movie on a scale of 1 to 100; I would give it an 86. It was really a great movie that kept me on the edge of my seat. It had great acting combined with some very interesting locations. This is definitely one of my favorite “old movies” being that it was in black in white and I would recommend it to anyone that wants to experience something a little different then what our modern day movies can offer.

A Recent Movie

One movie that I have really been itching to see since I saw the previews was Inside Man with D-Washington. I hadn't really gotten around to seeing it until last week when it was on HBO but let me tell you that it was an eye opening experience. I mean first of all the way that they robbed the bank would have flawlessly worked in real life as it did in the movie. I'm not getting any ideas but if this whole "college" thing doesn't work out, let me know if you’re interested. Anyway I really enjoyed the movie and thought that it was very exciting and suspenseful. At the time I wasn't really paying any attention to the cinematic things that we learned in class but there where definitely some dank explosions and a lot of yelling. By the time the movie was done I was really inspired and it made me want to do something really exciting so I popped in Madden and played a knuckle biting game online with the G-men versus some kid with the panthers (48-0). The HD really made the movie even better because I felt like I was right there with them. I would have to say that this movie, for me, compared to Oceans Eleven as a really phenomenal robbery movie and that if there’s any chance of Inside Man 2, I hope I can be in it.

The Bourne Ultimatum

I read the review by Chris Vognar from the Dallas Morning News on The Bourne Ultimatum. I still haven't gotten around to seeing the film, but this review certainly makes me want to. Chris writes in his review that the movie is filled with lots of suspense and great "Cat-and-Mouse" chase scenes like in the previous Bourne movies. I really enjoyed the first two Bourne movies and it sounds like this one might be even better and more action-packed. He also makes reference to a movie that I've never heard of, The French Connection, and how this movie would fit right in with its "brand of breathless pursuit sequence[s]". Another thing I also noticed in his review was that he mentioned how the handheld camera kinetics really make a difference and make the movie even more exciting especially in the different chase scenes that the trilogy is known for. The review also pointed out that the movie is a lot like the Bourne Supremacy with a, "story [that] feels fresh." I'm glad that he said this because I was worried that with the first two Bourne movies being so good, they would run out of new and interesting ideas for this one and that the plot would end up being dull with a lot of great action scenes that wouldn't really matter. But yet Chris proves his argument of how great of an action movie it is by saying that,

"The Bourne Ultimatum leaps, scampers, scraps and drives its way into the pantheon of all-time great action movies".

Another thing that he mentioned in the review is how good of an acting job Matt Damon and Julia Stiles perform and how they really invested into their characters. He says at the end that,

"It's tempting to say that any actor could show up on the Bourne set and coast on the movie's considerable craft. But that wouldn't really be fair to Mr. Damon, who continues to invest his character with the stoic urgency of a man who will die if he doesn't find the truth".

What I really got from the review was that this movie is loaded with great action scenes and that the things that made the past Bourne movies so good are still a part of this one.

Overall I thought that this was a really good review because he stated several reasons for why he felt that this was really an amazing movie and how it relates to other great action movies. He was able to prove his point by the short summary that he gives in the 3rd and 4th paragraph of his review and show us how action packed and suspenseful the movie really is. He also does a good job of pointing out that even though this movie is made for action and suspense scenes, the plot is fresh and the story is just as good. After reading this review I definitely want to see the movie but will probably just end up renting it on hd-dvd when it comes out because I don't want to spend 9 dollars to go and see it.