Review of North by Northwest (1959) by Dc E — 07 Feb 2012

Good, but by no means great. Though that could be because I didn't expect the comedic elements in the film.

Cary Grant plays the lead in a classic story of mistaken identity. The police want him. The bad guys want him. Eva Marie Saint wants him. You have no idea what on earth is really going on. That is by design and it is actually well done. The movie is interesting and keeps you into it despite a few slow moments. It is one of those movies that even if it were poorly done, you'd still stick around to the end ... just to see what happens.

The witty commentary from Grant are odd and at times out of place though. I mean, here we have a man being pursued by both the police and a shadowy organization and he takes the time to utter an endless stream of one-liners. I suppose a lot of modern movies do the same, but in this particular film, it didn't come across as smooth.

10 Scale Rating: 6.0.