Highly enjoyable but far from realistic thriller

Rating: 9/10 (28 September 2015)

Greetings from Lithuania.
"North by Northwest" (1959) is more like an adventure with some mystery and thriller elements than a real thriller - it has this lightness that separates it from more serious approach of the material. And maybe that's is the strangeness and at the same time the weakness of this great and exciting movie. It is superbly photographed, features splendid cinematography (the scene with the plane in the fields is simply amazing, still after first time seeing this movie in 2015). Acting is very solid but not very serious, you won't believe for a second that one of the characters were experiencing a real peril, it is more like acting in front of the camera, not "beeing there sort of acting". While the story is intriguing at first, it becomes more or less intriguing by the end, and although i really enjoyed the last sequence on the monument, some acting in there weren't just that good or realistic.
Overall, "North by Northwest" is a definitely a great movie, but more of its parts are great that the whole. It has great comedic moments, especially by Cary Grant. Eva Marie Saint is more powerful in dramatic scenes rather that in action scenes, she isn't convincing in those, she is dramatic actress, not an action heroines. Directing is solid here (by legendary Alfred Hitchcock!). "North by Northwest" is very enjoyable movie and i absolutely recommend it to anyone who likes these kind of movies, and while the individual scenes are almost brilliant, the movie as a whole isn't as brilliant as the sum of it's parts.