Review of Vertigo (1958) by Chillindylan G — 24 Sep 2014

I have just begun rewatching Hitchcock films - it's been over 20 years since I have viewed them. So, it's as close to watching these movies for the first time that one can really get. I decided to start with Vertigo, which was one of my favorite Hitchcock movies growing up.

While this is indubitably a very good movie, upon a re-watch, it is a bit overrated. When watching older movies, I really try to put myself back in that time frame - so you will rarely see me bitch about "special effects not being up to par" or stuff like that. The plot is beautifully crafted with excellent twists and groundbreaking camera work. Nowadays, we are always looking for "the twist", so fooling the audience is much more difficult. But, with Hitchcock, it was an art form more than it was just a standard movie device. And, there was nobody better at it. James Stewart was magnificent as usual, and the final 90 minutes clipped along pretty well. The ending was great and really struck home the point of, "the more obsessed you get the more likely you will lose the object of your obsession".

Now, that being said, there were 2 main issues I had with this movie. 1) The first 40 minutes of this movie was slllooowwwww. Now, I'm not someone who needs constant action - far from it. I love the build up in The Exorcist as well as the first LOTR movie. But there was stuff going on in those movies. This was literally driving and following for 40 minutes - easily could have been cropped in half to make the movie more concise. 2) While I love James Stewart, he was just a little bit too old for this particular role. Kim Novak appeared to be about half his age, and it made their love story just a tiny bit awkward for me. When she wakes up in his bed naked, it just felt a little creepy.

These were legitimate issues for me that drop the movie from "all time great" discussion. It is a very good movie and I would highly recommend re-watching if it's been a while. However, I would suggest tempering your expectations going in.

Grade = 8.0/10.