One of the Most Intriguing, Unique, and Well Done Murder-Mysteries Ever

Rating: 9/10 (30 July 2012)

"Rear Window" is a film I had heard of for a long time. It seemed that life kept pressing me to see this movie. I'd see a poster for this film in the bedrooms of main characters in many other films, just pushing that I had to see it. I saw the semi-remake "Disturbia" first and really enjoyed it, but was concerned that I may not like the original because I may just compare it to the Shia LaBeouf version. And finally by luck, I found a copy, so I rented it. And now I see why it's held as such a masterpiece.
I can honestly say, from the second I threw on "Rear Window", I completely forgot about "Disturbia"'s existence. The plots are the same in about two aspects, everything else is completely changed. "Rear Window" is about Jeffery, who has been confined to a wheelchair for the past several weeks in his apartment. Because of this, he passes his time by watching his neighbours out his window. And after observing a married couple through many fights and the sudden disappearance, Jeffery becomes convinced that the husband murdered his wife. Now, Jeffery must the authority of the crime before the husband can disappear without consequence. It's a very unique premise in which the villain is completely unaware of the hero, with there being no previous personal or political conflict between them, but simply a series of observations that has brought them against each other.
The acting in this film is great. Jimmy Stewart leads the film as Jeffery. He is the everyday common man. You believe this guy completely and his performance never seems forced or written. It feels 100% natural and he pulls it off with such class. It's the little things in his character that make him relatable. Like him staring at his hot neighbour despite having a beautiful girlfriend, and making judgements and nicknames for his neighbours who he's never talked to. These little character traits make him likable to everyone and make you care for him.
Grace Kelly plays Lisa, Jeffery's girlfriend. She and Jeffery are polar opposites. Jeffery considers Lisa to be too perfect for him and is into adventure, while she likes shopping and fashion. They're on the verge of breaking up, but as she helps Jeffery try to solve this mystery, her adventurous side comes out and they wind up closer than ever. Funny how that always seems to happen it movies, isn't it? She doesn't seem as natural as Jimmy Stewart, but that doesn't mean she's bad. She still does a good job, and it's fun to watch her go from buying dresses and eating expensive meals to breaking into houses and solving this crime.
No one can talk about this film without mentioning the camera-work. This movie is filled with wonderful cinematography. Long, panning shots across Jeffery's neighbourhood that show all the neighbours activities makes you feel like it's actually full of people, and not just a bunch of shots of small sets cut together to give the illusion of scope. The set was designed in a brilliant way. It's a relatively small set, with all the houses being in apartments connected to each other, and the neighbours always interacting in one way or another. We get familiar with these neighbours quickly, with all them having nicknames based on their personalities and activities.
The last thing I have to say about this movie is the finale. It's no wonder there's a last conflict between Jeffery and the killer. The killer breaks into Jeffery's apartment and is walking up to Jeffery, when Jeffery blinds the killer with a camera flash multiple times. And every time, the killer stops dead in his tracks, takes a second to adjust his eyes back, and takes another step or two and gets blinded. The idiot doesn't even cover his eyes after the second time, he just keeps looking straight into the flash like a dumbass. This really undermines how threatening the villain is, in my opinion, when he's too stupid to cover his damn eyes.
Overall though, "Rear Window" is a brilliantly paced, shot, edited, acted, directed and just really well-done film. But I could easily see modern viewers being turned off by its age and its very different concept. Regardless, I highly recommend giving it a watch.