Harockerce What a beautiful movie!

AboveDeepBuggy Some things I liked some I did not.

Acensbart Excellent but underrated film

filippaberry84 I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

Robert J. Maxwell This is better than I'd expected.The general plot involves a happily married police detective, Berenger, assigned as a body guard for the aristocratic Rogers, who is a witness to a gang killing, the perp being Andreas Katsulas, who is real MEAN and enjoys puncturing his victim multiple times with an ice pick, not to mention slashing an expensive painting.You'll recognize Katsulas because he was also the one-armed killer in "The Fugitive." His hawk-nosed features and beetling brows are unforgettable. Of course, Berenger and Rogers get to know one another and wind up in bed, much to the distress of Berenger's wife, Lorraine Bracco, in her first prominent role.What I'd expected was a routine cop shoot-out with an extravaganza of special effects, high speed pursuits, bath tubs of gore, and a middle interlude with the beefy Berenger and the mammous Rogers doing the beast with two backs in candle light on the other side of a pastel curtain. Complete schlock.Instead, it's a sometimes nicely observed story of an ordinary bourgeois guy from Queens, whose taste runs to beer, joking around with his loving but savvy wife, and wearing paisley ties to fancy parties. God only knows what kind of music he prefers. He probably thinks Kenny G is semi-classical. Some fun is poked at the aristoi's taste but a cello piece by Bach is nice and good use is made of Gershwin's title tune.The getting-to-know-you routine is improbably fast but in any case Rogers introduces him to champagne, so to speak. Berenger's flatfoot is awed by her multi-million-dollar digs, is embarrassed when her high-end girl friends tell him what a hunk he is, and is reluctant to drink "cocktails", as he calls them, while on duty and to let Rogers buy him a new tie -- but he finally yields, as we all yield sooner or later. I approved of the way the writers contrasted Berenger's cramped and noisy home with the sybaritic splendor of Rogers' quarters.I also rather liked the relationship between the various cops who form the dramatic background. Berenger of course is violating the rules by banging the witness he's supposed to be protecting but when he turns up late at night for a tryst, during another cop's watch, there is no melodrama. The other cop simply gets to his feet and says, "Tell me I'm dreaming." When Berenger is first discovered by another cop, the exchange is equally brief. "What are you doing here?" "I'm screwed up, T.J." And it's done in LONG SHOT, not close ups of anguished faces.Not that some of the usual clichés are avoided. They worked before, so let's use them again, right? One example: Bracco awakens alone at night. She's heard a creaking noise outside the house. She puts on her dressing gown, creeps down the darkened stairway, slowly approaches the window (while the violin strings are practically worn threadbare by suspenseful tremolos), puts her eye to a slit at the window sill, and . . . and . . . AND . . . BANG! A hand reaches out from off the screen and clutches her shoulder. It's her little boy, Tommy. Well, one more example. A body full of bullets crashes through plates of glass in slow motion.Berenger does his best, and he looks about right for the part, but when he aims for an emotion -- say, "guilt" -- it's like a hunting dog pointing at the pheasant. Rogers doesn't have much to do but look classy and she gets the job done. The most enjoyable performance is Lorraine Brocco's. She's an ex model and had little experience but she does a magnificent job. Watch the expressions on her face and on Berenger's when she discovers in the restaurant that her husband has been sleeping with his charge. Berenger doesn't really pull it off. She does. Nice casting too. Rogers has thin features and looks weaned on opera by Delibes, while Bracco has big blue eyes that are too close together, an enormous and absolutely straight nose, and an accent, that all add up to more than the sum of their parts.

jc-osms This film couldn't have been more 80's if it was wearing leg-warmers. Shot with all the depth and meaning of an MTV video, it's ludicrously plotted, poorly acted and surprisingly, considering it's a Ridley Scott feature, rather boringly directed if truth be told.Let's take the plot first and take your pick from the most far-fetched scenario, from the unlikely relationship between ever so rich, ever so posh Mimi Rogers and ever so working-class, ever so gauche Tom Berenger, to the mad murderer running about New York, coming back for lone witness, even after he's improbably let out on bail after a murder attempt, to the finale when Berenger's estranged wife comes to his aid in the most dramatic way and of course takes him back.As for the acting, I didn't detect any heat between the leads at all, a situation not helped by Scott deciding not to give us a big sex-scene involving them, which while I'm no advocate for X-rated scenes, felt something more could have been done to explain the unlikely liaison between the two of them. They make a good-looking couple, but their characterisations are too one-dimensional, Rogers as the poor little rich girl and particularly Berenger with his sub-Rocky like enunciation and dumb-lunk portrayal.I also felt there was too little action in the film and the intended suspense-ful bits were lacking in tension and th soundtrack an uneasy mix of jazz and pop, with the title song played far too often, no matter if it is in different guises.It's certainly a beautifully shot film but the colours are too ripe as if the cameras are in permanent soft-focus mode, over-prettifying the cinematography.I've struggled all through this review trying to avoid saying style over content, but there you go, I've said it...and I mean it.

Andersonde7 This movie has class, elegance, and excellence written all over it. It has three sharply drawn characters in the detective (Berenger), his wife (Bracco) and the murder witness (Rogers). The detective's conflict between his familiar and safe family life and the stylish world of the beautiful (and available) murder witness is heart rending, and one feels for all three characters in the story. But the detective's son turns out to be the key to the ultimate resolution of the conflict, foreshadowed early on when the detective and his wife are yelling at each other "did you hear what I said?" and a little voice from another room shouts out "did you hear what I said?". An irresistible movie, it seems to get better with each viewing.

jotix100 The concept in a story about two people from two different walks of life getting involved in a love affair that will consume them, is not exactly new in mainstream movies. If one adds to the concept two attractive players to impersonate those lovers on the screen, the result will play heavily in the way an audience responds. If then, a murder is thrown in, it adds another layer to the film.Ridley Scott, is a director with a keen sense of style. He has produced a string of movies that have resonated with the movie going public, and "Someone to Watch Over Me", his 1987 film, proves to be one of those favorites, if one is to go by the comments submitted to this forum. The screen play is by Howard Franklin. The excellent cinematography by Steven Poster pays tribute to New York City with the breathtaking aerial night shots. Michael Kamen added to the texture of the film with his music score that also blends music by Antonio Vivaldi and Leo Delibes' "Lakme" into the sound track.Although the mere idea of a rich socialite getting involved with a Queens detective is preposterous at best, one goes along with the possibility. We realize from the start they have no future together because the detective is pure polyester and the rich girl will not ever set her foot in the outer boroughs for all the money in the world. We realize from the beginning these lovers are doomed.The best thing in the film are the two leads, Mimi Rogers is an exciting presence in whatever she decides to appear in, as it's the case here. Tom Berenger, with his rough good looks is perfect for the awkward detective that can't resist a woman out of his league. Lorraine Bracco, who in this film bears an uncanny resemblance with Debra Winger, plays the wife of the detective, and is also a cop. Andreas Katsulas is at his best creepy self as the man who doesn't want to be identified and will do anything to get his accuser out of the picture.Ridley Scott delivers with his usual elegance and eye for the luxury most of us mere mortals can't afford.