Penthouse North

Plot synopsis:
Sara Taylor is a photojournalist stationed in Afghanistan. She enters a building, in which she espies a woman crying for help. She raises her camera to take a photo of the woman before realizing that the baby the woman is carrying is actually a bomb. The bomb explodes, leaving Sara permanently blind.
Having returned to America, where her live-in boyfriend, Ryan, is desperate to marry her. Sara is planning a party and goes out to buy some supplies when she is knocked over by a cyclist. When she gets home Ryan appears to have stepped out - Sara is unable to see his murdered body. When she takes a shower, Ryan's killer is revealed to still be in the house, using his blade to push a towel in Sara's direction when she cannot find one.
Sara discovers Ryan's body when she slips in his blood. The killer makes himself known and ties Sara to her bed, asking for "the diamond" which Ryan stole from him. Sara is shocked by the revelation that Ryan is not the man he made himself out to be. She offers the killer, now known as Chad, the diamond, but then knocks him out and escapes the apartment. She hides in her building's basement where her friend Antonio hears her calls for help. He tries to save her but Chad slits his throat. Sara escapes to the street when she trips into the arms of Robert Hollander, who promises to keep her safe.
They retreat to her building and it is revealed that Chad knows Hollander and they are working together to find the diamonds. They finde a cache of hundreds of thousands of dollars hidden behind a canvassed photo that Sara took. Having confirmed that Ryan was a crook, Hollander and Chad renew their efforts, certain that the diamonds are hidden somewhere in the penthouse. Hollander throws Sara's cat over the balcony in a fit of spite before locking Sara up again. She tries to reason with Chad, then turns her attentions to Hollander, desperate to end the torment.
Blake comes over with her husband for the party Sara was preparing for earlier. Sara gets them to leave with a story that she and Ryan are fighting, plus the lucky fact that Blake, who is heavily pregnant, starts having contractions. Hollander sends Chad to fix him a drink while he takes Sara out to the balcony. Chad discovers the diamonds hidden within some ice cubes and hides them away before offering Hollander his drink. Chad attempts to kill Hollander but is shot by Hollander. With Hollander's attention on Chad, Sara stabs Hollander in the back with a garden shear. As Hollander grapples with Sara, Chad revives and attacks Hollander, who grabs Chad's blade and stabs him to death. Hollander searches for Sara, who has found Hollander's gun. She tries shooting him using her sense of sound, but New Year's Eve fireworks dull her senses, giving her a flashback to the moment she lost her sight in Iraq.
Sara manages to shoot Hollander in the arm. With the gun pointed directly at him she starts throwing the diamonds over her balcony, threatening to throw all of them away. When Hollander reacts, she is able to hear him and shoots him in the chest before pushing him off the balcony to his death.
It is revealed that Sara had kept the diamonds in her hand. She re-freezes them in ice cubes, while her cat is seen walking over Hollander's carcass on the ground below.

Tags: murder, flashback

Review:
You might like this movie if you enjoyed: Columbus Circle (1996), Brake (2012)Long Story Short: Sarah (Michelle Monaghan), a former Military photojournalist, has lost her sight due to an incident in Afghanistan.
It turns out that Ryan does have a secret and, which gets Sarah in great danger.Review: I have never heard of that movie before but I thought I give it a shot, and it was not a bog let down, but I wasn't blown away either.
Penthouse North is a vicious little 90's inspired slice of thriller fun, which sadly seems to have gained zero marketing and promotion, so unless it catches your eye on US Netflix or Shaw On Demand (which is where I watched it), you'll probably never even know you missed it.
Michelle Monaghan throws herself into the role of Sara, an ex-war photojournalist who was blinded in an incident.
The film benefits greatly from a frenzied performance from Michael Keaton as Hollander, the lead criminal and a real piece of work.
Mediocre movie but Michelle Monaghan is good as usual.
Almost came close to giving it a 6 but I don't really think it has much replay value so I'll just leave it at a five.Got interested in watching this after being pleasantly surprised by Michael Keaton's performance as a hit-man in MERRY GENTLEMAN so I was a little let down when he hadn't shown up in the first 25 minutes, but once he pops up (closer to the 30 minute mark), he becomes one of the key characters in the film.Has a bit of a rough start in terms of truly getting going and feels slightly amateurish but once it gets going it gets decent enough to keep watching, Michelle Monaghan initially felt a little miscast during the war-segments but once she goes blind she feels more natural.And even though Michael Keaton never feels truly threatening his screen-presence speaks for itself and makes it work somehow, it helps that Monaghan portrays her characters fear very well.Barry Sloane is the third lead in the film and he's just okay, not bad but he doesn't come across as terribly menacing either and doesn't have the same star-power charisma that helped Keaton to make his role a bit better than it was.As far as the story goes, we've kinda seen it all before although minor details feel fresh but they could have done so much more with it.
A blind reclusive war photographer is living in a penthouse in New York, when she is experiencing that someone has come into her apartment.
Too late she senses that there's someone there.Well it doesn't take long before the action gets going, that's the good thing.
Strange, because David Loughery, the man behind, had done good scripts like "Lakeview Terrace" and "Passenger57".What's evident, is that blind people sense more than it's the case here.
This film would gave been much better if a blind had been involved in the script writing, do that stupid things could be avoided.If you want to watch a similar themed move, seek out "Blind" by Eskil Vogt instead, which is a completely profound experience compared to this.
(Blind was a selected movie, and later prize winner at Sundance Film Festival in 2014.)The film is very predictable.
The storyline in "Penthouse North" was fairly generic and predictable, but it still made for an entertaining enough movie.
However, it is not the type of movie that you watch more than once.The story is about a war photographer by the name of Sara, who loses her eyesight while on assignment.
Years later, living a reclusive life with her boyfriend, Sara comes home to find her boyfriend murdered and the killer still in the apartment.Story-wise then "Penthouse North" wasn't particularly innovative or outstanding, but it was entertaining enough for what it turned out to be.
It was adequately paced, but didn't really have many 'edge-of-your-seat' moments, which a good thriller should have.What made the movie watchable was the acting performances of Michelle Monaghan and Michael Keaton.There are far better and exciting thrillers available, but "Penthouse North" is still worth giving a chance.
This is one of those movies that you know is going to be bad from the opening scenes, and despite starring two reliable actors like Michael Keaton and Michelle Monaghan the film is really dull and predictable.
The film was directed by Joseph Ruben, who is mostly known for his 1991 film Sleeping with the Enemy, but is responsible for other titles such as The Forgotten, Money Train, and The Good Son. Most of the movies he's directed have been bad, but this is probably his worst film.
Ruben teamed up with the screenwriter he worked with in Money Train, David Loughery, and if you thought the action in that movie was laughable just wait until you see Penthouse North.
I was excited to see Michael Keaton back in a bigger role (I think the last time I saw him in a lead role was in White Noise) and he is probably the best thing about this movie, but it is still not worth the watch.Sara (Michelle Monaghan) was a photographer during the war in Afghanistan where she suffered a severe accident in an explosion and was diagnosed with permanent blindness.
Three years later we see Sara living in a nice penthouse with her boyfriend, Ryan (Andrew Walker).
Michael Keaton also has an important role in this film, but I don't want to give too much of the plot away despite the twists being rather predictable.This is yet another failed attempt at a home invasion thriller (as bad as the one starring Nicole Kidman and Nicolas Cage; Tresspas).
Sara (Monaghan) a former photo journalist in Afghanistan became blind from an incident there lives with Ryan (Andrew W.
Enter Chad (Barry Sloane) and Hollander (Keaton) who are looking for something Ryan stole from them.
Sara claims Ryan only told her that he was an investor and never told her where anything of value was hidden in the penthouse, but Chad and Hollander don't believe her.
The main reason I rented PENTHOUSE NORTH was because of Michael Keaton.
But in this film he and the rest of the cast struggles with a horrible and simple script.The premise of a blind woman getting her home invaded is pretty creepy.
The major problem is the complete lack of story- and character development and thousands of plot holes.The acting is basic routine and feels like the actors know they are a part of a lousy film.
The characters are shallow and worst of all, you never get to know why the bad guys are doing what they are doing.Besides a decent start, I got really frustrated watching this film.
As for the cast, the best performance is carried out by Michael Keaton; the rest are okay, but not so memorable, Michelle Monaghan's as the leading character Sara's depiction is in-consequent - perhaps due to the script...
Lifetime Channel movies are getting better...a little.
They are using more well known movie actors, like Michael Keaton in this one.
Blindsided is still not an award winning script or performance but it's much better than some (mind you I'm a Lifetime movie watcher, no matter how sappy, although I'm using a bit more discretion with my time nowadays) This movie has decent acting & suspense.
The lead Michelle Monaghan is believable (and pretty) as a blind woman pursued by criminals, who think she knows where their "goods" are hidden.
It reminds me of Audrey Hepburn's, 1967 classic film, Wait Until Dark, a much better movie.
I'm old enough to remember being scared silly by Audrey Hepburn's movie of the 60's - a blind woman being terrorized for something her husband stole.
I just watched it and while some of the reviewers criticize it for its simplicity and lack of twists, i would say that is what gives the movie its power.
Actually, i think the makers have done a great job in making the simple story line interesting enough to be glued to your seat all the time, wanting to know whats going to come next.
Michelle Monaghan and Michael Keaton star in "Blindsided," a 2013 straight-to-video film coproduced by Keaton for reasons known only to him.Monaghan plays a former photojournalist, Sara, who was blinded by a suicide bomber while covering a war and still suffers from PTSD.
If she didn't suffer from it, she would have been by the time the action in this film finished.On New Year's Eve, the man she is living with, Ryan (Andrew Walker) is killed by a former associate from whom he stole a fortune in diamonds.
He is joined by the brains of the organization, Hollander (Keaton) and together they try by various sadistic means to find out where the loot is.This is really cliché-ridden claptrap, derivative, predictable, and how dare anyone compare it to Wait Until Dark.
You also know what the end of the film is going to be.
It's all too obvious.Michael Keaton does a terrific job, but this is a generic mean guy role.
Michelle Monaghan does okay, but these are all generic characters there to serve the predictable action.There were a lot of holes in this thing.
I've watched this movie now because I'm scheduling a thematic channel.As I said in 'Source Code' review I love Michelle (and her Irish surname, not Welsh, sorry).
Why You Might Like It: For starters, it was good to see Michael Keaton back on screen and he does a fine job in this movie.
There are many better films in this genre, but the story is good enough to keep you engaged throughout.
Overall, it is a slightly above average thriller/suspense film that is mainly carried by the acting instead of the content itself.Why You Might Not Like It: If movies with a large amount of unrealistic moments bother you, then you should skip this movie.
As mentioned, this movie is fairly average and predictable so you won't be seeing anything outstanding if you choose to watch it.
Possibly the most obvious knock is that the lead character's blindness seems to improve as the movie progresses, which is the main reason for much of the unbelievable moments in the film.Acting/Casting: 6.5* Directing/Cinematography/Technical: 5.5*Plot/Characters: 5.5* Entertainment Value: 5.5* Total - 6.5+5.5+5.5+5.5 = 23/4 = 5.75 - Worth a watch.
The director of this movie made the original Stepfather - which is among one of the great horror films of the 80s.
Indeed - it does very much feel like a slightly better than made-for-TV movie.All of the performances are good - but the main problem lies in the script.
I love Michelle Monaghan as actress and she's great in this movie.
Michael Keaton is always one of my favorites and them two together makes this movie a whole lot better.
An OK movie that is generic & predictable but the reason to watch is to see Keaton as a psycho bad guy, he really saves this..
This is a movie that is worth seeing, even though it is fairly generic and predictable.
The real reason to watch this though is to see Keaton as a bad guy.
Overall, an OK movie that is generic and predictable but the reason to watch is to see Keaton as a psycho bad guy, he really saves the movie.
The violence she suffers during the cause of this movie fails to give her even the slightest of bruising.She now lives in a luxury apartment in New York with a wealthy boyfriend who says he is an investor but is in fact is a diamond thief.However Monaghan's life is put at risk as the boyfriend is murdered by the men he betrayed.
Michael Keaton is the leader of the pack and Barry Sloane as the ruthless junior partner who having killed the boyfriend without finding out where he hid the diamonds now terrorises Monaghan without once hesitating to think that this blind person may really know nothing.This is an updated remake of Wait until Dark but a low budget B grade film despite the presence of Keaton who went back to better things soon after this film was released.
The acting is routine with Monaghan never once convinced me that she is blind.The film is directed like a straight to DVD film and that is just what it is..
Review: This movie seemed like it was made for TV because it's your typical thriller about a blind lady who has to protect herself against baddies who are looking for diamonds.
It was good to see Michael Keaton back on the big screen, but this isn't really a movie that will be that memorable.
I was waiting for twists in the storyline, but it just turned out to be a straight forward foodie against baddie type of movie.
At the end of the day, it's just a average movie with average performances and plot.
There was loads of times throughout the movie when it could have switched into a whodunit type of film, but the director just kept it plain and simple.
I recommend this movie to people who,are into there drama/thriller type of movies about a couple of guys looking for stolen diamonds in a blind girls apartment.
This movie had me laughing at a blind woman.
If you're still thinking about watching this movie after reading this review; YOU'RE A LOSER :).
After being rendered blind by a suicide bomber, one time war photographer Sara (Michelle Monaghan), finds love with Ryan (Andrew Walker).
Penthouse North (the swanky place where Sara lives with Ryan) brings absolutely nothing new to the formula, not even - in fact - adding a twist or any sort of surprises.
PENTHOUSE NORTH appears to be an unacknowledged remake of the Audrey Hepburn vehicle WAIT UNTIL DARK in which the actress played a blind woman menaced by hoods in her apartment.
In this one, it's Michelle Monaghan who finds herself at the mercy of a couple of vicious thugs who are desperate to get their hands on some missing loot.The two movies have the same premise but the general narrative is fairly different.
It is, however, a solid enough little thriller that makes good use of its single-location setting and which keeps the suspense ratcheted up from the outset.
At least there's one seasoned performer in the cast, Michael Keaton playing the chief bad guy, and he seems to be having a ball with this.
this movie makes me feel i'm a stupid to watch cuz there's nothing.
Sarah (Michelle Monaghan) is a war photographer who gets blinded by a suicide bomber.
It isn't long before this becomes a home break-in film with Michael Keaton and Barry Sloane as the bad guys.
It seems her boyfriend wasn't as nice as she thought.There must be a 100 home break-in films out there, some even involve a blind person.
Michael Keaton portrays a psychotic killer searching for $20-million in diamonds in "Money Train" director Joseph Ruben's lackluster suspense thriller "Blindsided," alternately entitled "Penthouse North," co-starring Michelle Monaghan.
You cannot watch this potboiler without comparing it with Terence Young's seminal blind woman in peril suspenser "Wait Until Dark," though "Lakeview Terrace" scenarist David Loughery has conjured up a lesser effort.
The film opens in with our heroine Sara Frost (Michelle Monaghan of "Kiss Kiss Bang Bang") as a civilian photojournalist embedded with American troops in war-torn Afghanistan who loses her sight when a female suicide bomber cradling a baby doll in her arms blows up in front of her.
Predictably, a helpful guy, Hollander (Michael Keaton of "Batman"), escorts her back to her building while masquerading as a cop.
Earlier when she came back to the apartment, walking around unknowingly about Ryan's murder, Sara finds her cat Shadow.
Michelle Monaghan plays the damsel-in-distress without a clue, while Michael Keaton is wasted in a bland role.
"Blindsided" qualifies as a fair thriller, but nothing that you should waste your time watching..
Pretty photo-journalist Michelle Monaghan (as Sara Frost) puts herself in danger while covering US soldiers in Afghanistan.
They are balding kingpin Michael Keaton (as Hollander) and his sadistic young companion Barry Sloane (as Chad).
They hint at an interesting plot – observe, for example the knowing way Monaghan makes ice – but little is done to make anything really engaging.
We never know what connects the characters and places.**** Penthouse North/ Blindsided (4/18/13) Joseph Ruben ~ Michelle Monaghan, Michael Keaton, Barry Sloane, Andrew W.
This film has been shown with the title of "Blindsided."Very similar to 1967's "Wait Until Dark," a blind woman is terrorized by thieves looking for goods hidden by her boyfriend whom they have gone on to kill.You have that eerie feeling every minute along the way for the woman, who was blinded by a suicide bombing while photographing in Afghanistan, manages to survive this extremely frightening experience.Michele Monaghan is the lady and Michael Keaton gives a strong turn as the psychopath killer who will not allow anything or anyone to get in his way.We naturally see the greediness between the thieves and the usual victim attempting to pit one against the other..
While it seems like they are on the way to the police section the truth is that he is involved in this and is the boss of Chad and escorts Sara back to her penthouse so they can continue and find out where the money are.
A good perspective of the things make the finding to be very easy and are willing to let her go but there is something more valuable hidden there and the two are convinced that she knows where they are and will not leave until they get back the gems.A good thriller if it wasn't like many more others with the two villains turning back on each other and the fact that a blind woman can become a winner in front of two power full and ruthless killer.
Fortune with the good acting from Michelle Monaghan who saves a little these flaws but still it's a mediocre movie.