ActuallyGlimmer
The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.
pointyfilippa
The movie runs out of plot and jokes well before the end of a two-hour running time, long for a light comedy.
Kayden
This is a dark and sometimes deeply uncomfortable drama
imdb-45
Pretty good movie if you can get by Lithgow's horrendous imitation of a southern accent. Why bother if Lithgow can't pull it off to save the world? It's that bad as he slips in and out of it and sometimes speaks with an odd, unidentifiable accent that says "trying way too hard." The movie itself takes you from a man who lost his first wife in a kidnapping gone wrong to a reincarnation of his wife - or so it seems - only to have some predictable reason as to why this too will go wrong.Don't like saying it's a Vertigo copy but it does have a resemblance with a poorer script that is even less logical and with more twists. Some of it is very good and the performances by the leads are excellent. An average film with some poor casting and drawn out far too long. Not one of De Palma's best.
PimpinAinttEasy
The first 10 minutes of this movie is an exercise in pure style. DE PALMA uses BERNARD HERMANN's stunning background score to great effect. The rest of the film never really measures up to the first 10 minutes.The story (by PAUL SCHRADER and DE PALMA) is preposterous. But frankly, who cares? The film is wonderful to look and HERMANN's score is a pleasure to listen to. I wonder if the makers of OLD BOY were inspired by this film.Geneviève Bujold is not in the same league as some of the stunning Hitchcockian heroines. Cliff Robertson grows on you as the film progresses. I guess he was perfect for the role of the Southern patriarch. John Lithgow looked sinister. He is never boring.(8/10)
eliz_hawk
I have yet to see a film that Cliff Robertson , John Lithgow and/or Genevieve Bujold do not shine. And this is yet another example. Stellar actors. From start to finish this extraordinary film takes the audience on a mesmerizing journey. I vividly remember seeing this film with a family member in the 1980's , just the ending of the film, and without a doubt this would have to be one of the most moving scenes I've ever encountered. I dare anyone to watch this film and not be moved at the finale. Many modern movies have over-the-top special effects and minimal acting , where the audience is left deflated since they weren't able to connect with the characters. Here we have minimal special effects and stellar acting all around , as well as high quality musical composer Bernard Herrman.A lot of Brian da Palma's other films are overly laden with violence and gratuitous scenes, and yet somehow this film, Obsession, is an example of how you can make a highly engaging film that mesmerizes an audience WITHOUT any explicit material. I highly recommend this film as de Palma's best.
Claudio Carvalho
In 1959, in New Orleans, the businessman Michael "Mike" Courtland (Cliff Robertson) celebrates the tenth wedding anniversary with his beloved wife Elizabeth (Geneviève Bujold) with a party in his manor. Late night, Elizabeth and their daughter Amy are abducted and the kidnappers leave a note asking the ransom of US$ 500,000.00. However Mike calls the police but the rescue operation is a mess. When the criminals are pursued, there is a car crash and it explodes. Mike blames himself for the death of Elizabeth and Amy and builds a memorial in the location of the accident.In 1975, Mike travels with his partner Robert Lasalle (John Lithgow) to Florence in a business trip and when he goes to the church where he first met Elizabeth, he sees the worker Sandra Portinari (Geneviève Bujold) that is working in the restoration of a painting of Madonna and is a dead ringer of Elizabeth. Mike becomes obsessed in Sandra and dates her. When Mike travels back to NOLA, he brings Sandra planning to marry her. However, Sandra is also kidnapped and Mike finds a ransom note identical to the one he received when Elizabeth was abducted. Now Mike believes that destiny has given a second chance to him and he does not want to blow it. "Obsession" is an average thriller by Brian De Palma with a messy and chaotic screenplay. The greatest problem is the lead actor Cliff Robertson that keeps a wooden face with the same expression and never convinces. The plot is also silly and weak since Bob has waited fifteen years to lure Mike and take his real state. The incestuous romance between Mike and Sandra is also lame since she could be a "good catholic girl", but she certainly has had intimacies with her father in the name of revenge. Last but not the least, this is the first feature of John Lithgow, who has always been doomed to be the villain. My vote is six.Title (Brazil): "Trágica Obsessão" ("Tragic Obsession")
