Ooh, what a rush!!

Rating: 8/10 (30 May 2006)

No-one enjoyed toying with people's minds quite like Hitch; and "Vertigo" is a film that earns its right to sit proudly alongside his other psychological masterpieces. Stewart is superb and perfectly cast as the archetypal 'common man' who, after an accident, suddenly finds himself embroiled in a dizzying mystery he struggles to keep up with. If this all sounds a bit too "Rear Window", it plays sufficiently fresh to offer its own distinct pleasures, but it would probably be true to say that fans of one will certainly delight in the other, as well.
From the captivating vortex of the title sequence onward, "Vertigo" plunges headlong into the story. This wouldn't be Hitchcock without even a hint of a Macguffin, but the real power of the story for me came from being drawn into someone's obsession, and of course the stunning climax of its ultimate resolution. A widely acknowledged classic that's lost none of its thrall in the modern age, "Vertigo" is totally absorbing, and grips you like few other tales have managed to do.