Review of Marnie (1964) by Sam A — 19 Dec 2013

I have to admit, of all the Hitchcock movies I've watched lately (which is quite a few), this one might be my least favorite. It's almost never really scary or suspenseful; it's more of a drama about a particular character, but the lead performance isn't that great, and the final revelations about the character are a bit ridiculous. While it is of course very well made on a shot-to-shot basis, the film as a whole feels loose and baggy where previous Hitchcock films, particularly Rear Window, were tight and focused like lasers. It's kind of boring, honestly, and I would only recommend it to established Hitchcock enthusiasts.

The movie focuses on Marnie (Tippi Hedren), a career thief who makes her living by working at businesses for a while before robbing them and disappearing. Everything is going fine until she's caught by her new boss Mark Rutland (Sean Connery), who as it happens is in love with her, and gives her the choice between marrying him and going to jail. Also, Marnie has a number of strange phobias - she's afraid of the color red, for instance. All of this comes together, as you might expect.

It's all fine enough as a story, but the movie lacks the urgency of other Hitchcock classics. There's no real threats to be worried about, and since we never really know what drives Marnie until the end of the film, she's hard to identify with and invest in as a character. It doesn't help that Hedren is almost as flat here as she was in The Birds. Sean Connery is alright as Rutland, but it's not a character that fully takes advantage of his Connery-ness. Overall, the movie simply isn't as exciting or as interesting as most other Hitchcock films; and the overplayed Freudianism of the film's ending makes it feel dated and silly in a way other Hitchcock films don't.