A contrived and unbelievable piece of swill that somehow became a classic.

Rating: 4/10 (26 March 2009)

Now, I like Alfred Hitchcock as much as the next fellow but I can't for the life of me, figure out why this is such a tremendous success and so highly rated. This movie does not make a lick of sense and every bit is so contrived and unrealistic that I was constantly taken out of the film. For example, Cary Grant is in the middle of a dirt road near some crops when out of nowhere a crop duster appears and tries to fly over him and kill him. This is a classic scene but makes little to no sense. Wouldn't it have been easier to run him over with a car or something?
Another scene where he meets the heroin is simply laughable. The dialogue is corny ("whenever I meet a beautiful women, I must tell her I want to make love to her" PLEASE!) and the plot twists are nothing short of offensively stupid. The movie has great sets, like the Mount Rushmore set, but seriously, if a professional knife thrower has a knife, why would he jump at you? Especially on a steep mountain.
This movie is contrived and laughable the whole way through, the problem is that its a drama, not a campy 60's batman show. I wish I could be clever with this review but it seems unfair that I should have to put in effort to be clever when its obvious Alfred Hitchcock didn't put in effort to make a decent film.