Superlative nail-biter marred by gutless ending.

Rating: 6/10 (29 October 2001)

Viscerally, this is a stunning film. The New York interiors are beautifully-rendered, and both Polanski's cast is to be thanked for breathing life into his own tepid script. This movie is not for impatient. It moves very slow, but if one pays attention to the various plot details, it will have you biting your nails throughout. Rosemary's Baby reels you in almost from the very beginning and sets you squarely on the side of the protagonist, the beautiful Mia Farrow in a very believable, subtle performance. There is great dramatic irony in the horror's complex discovery plot -- you find yourself almost screaming at the film because Rosemary is too naive and charmingly honest to suspect what the audience has already gathered: that there are terrible forces and terrible people out to get her.
The very fact that you root so hard for Rosemary -- and believe so much in her integrity -- makes the film's ludicrously-scripted and childishly-shot ending all the more trite and hard to follow. I won't give it away, it's too silly for anything but the actual experience, but suffice it to say that whether or not you agree with the decisions that are made, they are a hard pill to swallow. Of course, it's only Polanksi manipulating his audience even more, like he does throughout the movies early hours. Like I wrote, you have to see the ending to (un)believe it: it does not taste good.
I have reserved the highest praise, though, for a trio of superlative performances. First, there is Ralph Bellamy in a tiny role; however, what he demonstrates is a firm grasp on the craft. In his few minutes of screen time, he manages to be sinister while seemingly doing nothing. In fact, Polanski admitted that his favorite scene in the whole movie is Bellamy retrieving Farrow from an office later on in the film. With only a few lines, Bellamy reveals his power as an actor.
Secondly, there is Farrow, who deserved all the raves. Against the hopelessly miscast Cassavettes as her husband, Farrow's performance is a tour de force without the force -- she does all her acting quietly. She is so beautiful, so fragile and so earnest that it no wonder how quickly you fall in love with her. I doubt very much that any other actress could have pulled this one off, and if there are ones which could have it's a testament to Farrow's performance that you still can't picture anyone else as Rosemary.
This is movie is not over-the-top (until it's end). If you want a bloody slasher film, you should not rent this one. It is an intelligent, suspenseful thriller. Were it not for the incredible ending, this one would have been an easy 9/10.