Jeff's being paranoid...

Rating: 7/10 (6 January 2005)

I love Hitchcock's 'North by Northwest' and 'Notorious', so I thought I'd enjoy Rear Window since it's his highest ranked film on IMDb. I thought wrong. As a matter of fact I think this film was just a tab above average, and definitely not as good as the two other films mentioned above. My main beef with Rear Window is that there was simply not enough condemning evidence before the dog got killed to suspect a man of possibly committing murder.
First of all, I didn't think it's too out of ordinary for a jewelry dealer to go out at night. He might be doing business with someone only available at night, and he might have forgotten to bring a few things that the buyer wanted so he came back a couple of times. Maybe he had a argument with his wife and went out a couple of times to clear his mind because he couldn't sleep. Maybe he was smuggling drugs this one time or some other illegal merchandise, and as bad as this is that's still not murder! The possibilities are simply endless.
Second of all, I have knives and saws in my house, and if I'm moving I'd certainly pack everything. Does that make me a murderer if a neighbor should see me packing these things? I wouldn't write this if I am. I think it's quite ridiculous to suspect the husband of CUTTING UP HIS WIFE'S CORPSE simply because he was packing up his knives and saws for relocation.
I have a problem with the purse as well. How in heck did Jeff and Lisa come to the conclusion that the purse they saw was the wife's favorite? My mom's got more than one purse, and she never takes all of them wherever she goes. And how are they so sure that the ring was the wife's wedding band? I bet neither of them had met the wife in person let alone taking notice of her ring.
Lastly, if I was the neighbor, I would laugh off Jeff's accusation, and tell him to get a real hobby 'cause he's got nothing on me. Instead the neighbor freaks out even though he was cool as a cucumber while disposing of his wife's remains.
With all this said, I think the overall plot really fall apart due to these holes. But I did like the concept of Rear Windows. I thought it was really clever how Jeff used his photos to conclude that the flower bed was disturbed, and I enjoyed the suspense when the two women went sleuthing while Jeff watched for the neighbor. I just think there should be more condemning evidence planted to make this film more believable.
All in all: 7/10