Storytelling issues prevent this from being a truly good film

Rating: 6/10 (22 July 2015)

This film has two major flaws, both story-related.
The first issue is that right in the beginning of the film, and then later again, it smears on you a sudden thick layer of awkward exposition, like a cheap Japanese anime. This should not be in a professional piece of work like this.
The second issue is that, as with all Hitchcock's movies I have seen so far, the story relies on one of the characters to be an idiot in order to work. The premise is that a detective affected by vertigo is asked by his old pal to solve a mystery around his wife's strange behavior and as you watch the events play out it becomes apparent fairly quickly that the main character is being played. It is obvious, and it should be particularly obvious to a detective, but the movie pretends like it is not.
And so, as I kept watching the film I suddenly caught myself mentally hurrying it up. Yes, I get it, the main character is obsessed and is being played. Come on, get to it already, get to the reveal. As the movie was drawing out the inevitable, the famous Hitchcock's tension was starting to wear out its welcome, as the dialogue and the music were getting increasingly teary-eyed.
And then, at around the 1:40 mark the story takes a nose dive. Instead of revealing the truth at the end of the film, it spills the beans right then by means of a second awkward exposition where the main twist if the film is simply shown to the audience in a flashback and then explained through the thoughts of one of the characters. Look, movie, I know I was mentally hurrying you up, but I did not mean for you to prematurely unload in the most unsatisfactory manner. What a letdown! The very ending is a bit problematic as well. It feels like the writer did not know for sure what to do with the two main characters after all the cards were on the table. The way the story is completed feels odd and somewhat rushed.
It is a real shame because the performances are good. The main character played by James Stewart has a charm about him. The famous Hitchcock's tension is there. There are some special effects used including animation, which looked cool. Even the story at face value is quite interesting, but unfortunately it is also noticeably flawed.