Eery and Satisfying Hitchcock Film

Rating: Null/10 (21 February 2006)

The film starts out interestingly enough with Mitch Brenner checking out Annie Hayworth in a bird store, claiming he would like to purchase a pair of love birds. Annie and Mitch end up knowing each other from a some sort of court dispute. Mitch needles Annie much to her disliking and promptly leaves the store. Annie manages to get his license plate number and decides to buy him some love birds, perhaps feeling she's misunderstood and this is a way to win him over. She drives the birds to the address she tracks down from his plate and drops off the birds. Mitch sees her and promptly catches up to her, asking her to stay for dinner. The birds in the area start to act a little aggressive and increasing in numbers. As usual, no one in the beginning believes the situation will get out of hand. I actually liked Jessica Tandy's character as Mitch's mother Lydia more often than I liked Mitch. Mitch convinces everyone to stay at the house and wait the attack out. Every good film has an antagonist and there are several in this film. The plot could have been developed more as far as how Annie and Mitch work out their differences. Lydia leaves the house one morning and we could swear Annie and Mitch hit the sheets during her absence, though nothing is shown except how affectionate and close they are when Lydia returns.
One minor note is that Mitch's younger sister looks more like she could be his daughter, but this doesn't detract from the film. I enjoyed Suzanne Pleshette's teacher character and found her to be the most engaging character in the whole film.
Overall, a good film with excellent directing, cinematography and film editing. The plot of how birds can increase in numbers and attack people is believable in my opinion, especially with today's bird flu epidemics and such. If you've ever eaten food on an East coast beach, some birds will swoop down at you with a few getting a little too close. I wasn't disappointed with the ending -- it leaves the idea of what happens next to both imagination and a possible sequence.