"Spoilers" cannot ruin a movie this good.

Rating: 10/10 (9 August 2009)

With over 400 glowing reviews already posted, the only thing that needs to be added is that, if ever a movie proved that "spoilers" can't spoil a superb film, it's "Rear Window."
The movie is smashing great fun even if you know the ending, because what matters is not "The End" but how we got there. I've seen "Rear Window" at least a dozen times, and it seduces me every time with the smart dialog, the performances (go, Thelma!), and especially with the way Hitchcock builds suspense in what is essentially a comic film. He is the master.
Far from spoiling a good film, knowing the ending actually allows you to better appreciate the structure and skill that went into it. After all, who doesn't know how Romeo and Juliet ends? or Amadeus? or The Gospel According to St. Matthew? Does that mean they're "spoiled"? And it isn't just true of adaptations, biographies, and the Bible. Even original stories that seem to depend on surprise-- thrillers like "The Sixth Sense," mysteries like "Chinatown," comedies like "The Sting"- - are just as good the second time if they're well-made in the first place.