overrated

Rating: 7/10 (23 February 2004)

Hitchcock is, and has always been, one of the greatest directors of all time. As a matter of fact, he's my absolute favorite. I watched Vertigo with admittedly high expectations, and was more than a bit disappointed with what I found. I admit Jimmy Stewart gave a fine performance, and so did the other actors, but none of them gave a great performance. Most of the plot is rather confusing and coupled with the ending makes even less sense. I just couldn't believe anything in the movie could actually ever happen, and so it was missing that touch of realism that most Hitchcock movies have. Hitchcock did a fine job directing and Jimmy Stewart did a fine job in his role, but the plot was silly and there was plenty of padding as well (I hope you like scenes of people driving). Hitchcock and Stewart made this mediocre movie into a good movie, but it is definitely not a great movie.
Final rating: B