THE Ultimate Hitchcock Movie

Rating: 10/10 (19 July 2006)

"Rear Window" represents Alfred Hitchcock at his most playful.
This is Hitchcock's most fully realized comment about the obsession with voyeurism that reared its head repeatedly throughout his ouvre, an obsession not only of his, but one shared by the characters in his films and the audience watching them -- for without the delight that comes in watching other people, who would filmmakers be making films for?
"Rear Window" is a nearly perfect movie: perfectly plotted, perfectly directed, perfectly acted. James Stewart could play characters like this in his sleep, but that fact does not make his performance any less entertaining. Some of the ice melts off of Grace Kelly's facade, and she gives the wittiest and sexiest performance of her career. And who can say enough about Thelma Ritter? A truly unique character actor in the history of cinema, Ritter always played the audience's id, thinking and saying all of the things all of the other characters in the film were too polite or nervous to think and say themselves. She could recite a weather forecast in that sardonic, world-weary monotone of hers, and it would still be funny.
Hitchcock was always able to blend suspense, romance and social commentary to varying degrees of success, but almost always better than most other directors could manage. "Rear Window" stands as an example of what happened when he struck a perfect balance between all three.
Grade: A+