Frantic
Tags: suspenseful, neo noir, murder, violence

Plot synopsis:
Dr. Richard Walker (Harrison Ford) is a (rather arrogant) surgeon visiting Paris with his wife Sondra (Betty Buckley) for a medical conference. At their hotel, she is unable to unlock her suitcase, and Walker determines that she picked up the wrong suitcase at the airport. While Walker is taking a shower, his wife mysteriously disappears from their hotel room.
Still jet-lagged, he searches for her in the hotel with the help of a polite but mostly indifferent staff and then wanders outside to search himself. A vagrant overhears him in a café and says he saw Walker's wife being forced into a car. Walker is skeptical until he finds his wife's ID bracelet on the cobblestones. He contacts the Paris police and the U.S. Embassy, but their responses are bureaucratic, and there is little hope anyone will look for her.
As Walker carries on the search himself (with input from a very sympathetic but wary desk clerk at the hotel), he stumbles onto a murder scene and then encounters the streetwise young Michelle, who had mistakenly picked up his wife's suitcase at the airport. It transpires that Michelle is a career smuggler but does not know for whom she is working. She reluctantly helps Walker in his increasingly frantic attempt to learn what was in the switched suitcase and to trade whatever it is for the return of his wife.
It turns out that hidden within a small replica of the Statue of Liberty is a krytron, a small electronic switch used in the detonators of nuclear devices that had been stolen and smuggled by Arab agents. The American embassy, working with Israeli agents, want it back and are willing to let Sondra die in the process of reacquiring it. Thus, the doctor is forced to try to save his wife with Michelle, who wants her money for her work. The film ends with a confrontation beside the River Seine where Walker's wife is released. However, a firefight ensues between the Arab and Israeli agents who followed them. During the crossfire, the Arab agents are killed but Michelle is also shot and dies with Walker and Sondra at her side.
Angry and upset, Walker throws the krytron into the river while the helpless Israeli agents look at him. He then carries Michelle's body away from there. Soon after, the Walkers, traumatized because of what happened, leave Paris.

Review: A mix-up with luggage and a smuggled substance lead him into the life of the mysterious Michelle who is more mixed up with his wife's disappearance than she lets on.I have seen this film several times and I think the fact that it isn't a spectacularly gimmicky film is a big part of the reason why it doesn't really stick in my mind over the years.
In their hotel the woman disappears without explanations and Harrison Ford begins a nightmarish research throughout the cityThe film reminds us of the Alfred Hitchcock thriller "North by Northwest" (1959) in that movie a misunderstanding is the motor of the story, here it's something similar but more enigmatic, because we don't know who kidnapped doctor's wife.This is the first cinematic collaboration between the Polish-French director and his future wife, actress Emmanuelle Seigner she's the girl who helps Harrison Ford in this adventure.Intriguing and exciting: these are the words for "Frantic".
Perhaps the European atmosphere doesn't appeal as much to Americans as it does to Europeans.....just like most french top-films never made it to the US.Nevertheless, Roman Polanski is terribly underrated as a master of suspence.
In fact, looking back at Hitchcock's movies (which is unfair, since they've been made in a completely different era) I don't think he ever made movies written this well.For some reason most of the time film making starts with putting the director together with some of the best or most popular actors of that period.
It shows that Polanski wrote this himself, with his close friend and film-writing-partner, because he really knows what this story is about - he knows where to be funny, where to make it tense, where to make things kind of 'sensual'.The weird thing is, that looking at all the things that happen in this movie, it's still so relatively shot, and doesn't feel at all too paced, or rushed.
Anyway, those who have ever lost track of someone (for a short moment) in a strange, big city or those who have ever tried to find out something in France, will know and recognize exactly what Harrison Ford's character is going through - people not taking you seriously, people who don't care, people who refuse (or aren't able) to help you in your own language.
Having problems with luggage when you're flying, isn't unrealistic too...nor is the story of this movie, the reason why what happened, happened.Although I've never understood why our friend wanted his own wife back, instead of staying with the beautifull french girl ;) Again, that's what most people would do in real life....
I think Frantic is one of the movies more successful through the films with the plot located in Paris.
Polanski tells us the story with great suspense involving the city of Paris like a character of the film.
The plot is somewhat simple, but the acting of Harrison Ford (Walker) and Emmanuelle Seigner (Michelle) throughout make it an unmissable movie.
The terror group is dealing with the smuggling of top-secret US government nuclear trigger mechanisms that, if in the wrong hands, can vaporise entire cities.American Doctor Richard Walker, Harrison Ford, and his wife Sondra, Betty Buckley, arrive from San Francisco at the Grand Hotel in Paris for a doctors convention where Dr. Walker is to be the featured speaker.
With her husband taking a shower Sondra is seen answering the door and then disappears out of sight and out of the movie.It takes a while for Walker, who thought that his wife went out shopping, to realize that something is terribly wrong when Sandra doesn't show up and goes to the hotel lobby to find out what happened to her.
there's also the fact that if the suitcase is ever gotten into the wrong hands it can lead to a nuclear holocaust.It takes a while for "Frantic" to unravel it's storyline, like most good thrillers do, but it's actor Harrison Ford who makes it come alive with his frantic and almost hysterical search for his missing and kidnapped wife Sondra.
The story deals with the assistance to a conference in Paris of doctor "Richard Walken" (Harrison Ford) and his wife (Betty Buckley), and reliving their honeymoon.
Harrison Ford makes one of his best roles and believable in his character as doctor drawn into espionage and who launches to rescue his lovely wife , though never really cuts loose .
The film has a large number of memorable scenes that are the Polanski's stamp : as the start of the movie, the thrilling scenes on the roof , and the unforgettable dancing that Ford dances Emmanuelle Seigner , among others .
Harrison Ford, Emmanuelle Seigner, and Betty Buckley star in Frantic, a 1988 film directed by Roman Polanski and filmed in Paris.Ford is Dr. Richard Walker, who travels to Paris with his wife Sondra (Buckley) -- they originally spent their honeymoon there, and he's due to deliver a paper at a medical convention.
Ford answers, "SINCE JUNE 15, 1968??" Emmanuelle Seigner, who married Polanski after this film, is gorgeous and creates an interesting, quirky character.
The answer is all of those and more besides: Frantic turns out to be a Hitchcockian thriller, with Harrison Ford giving his career-best turn as the wronged man, out of his depth and on his own, fighting back against a hostile world.With Hitchcock, there always had to be a blonde, and Polanski doesn't disappoint in this respect: he casts Emmanuelle Seigner as Michelle, the streetwise young girl who finds herself caught up in the search for the missing spouse.
This film shows one of Harrison Ford's best, if not his best performance ever, and the introduction of Emmanuelle Seigner, whose character plays the most important role in the movie.
He is credited for pictures such as Chinatown and The Pianist, but certainly his best action-adventure flick is this one.The film stars Harrison Ford, who plays a idiotic doctor who cannot figure out his way through Paris, where he has lost his wife to a conspiracy.
Dr. Richard Walker (Harrison Ford) is in Paris with his wife Sondra (Betty Buckley) for a medical conference.
He starts investigating on his own and encounters Michelle (Emmanuelle Seigner).This is a great Roman Polanski film.
This is my second favorite Polanski film behind 'The Pianist', but it's a tight race between two superlative films.Frantic stars Harrison Ford as a Doctor who just arrived in Paris for a Medical conference.
He and his wife check into a hotel hoping to balance the time between work and play.I'm not going to go into plot any further, and really there isn't much of a plot to 'Frantic'.This movie is about style, music, and some seriously amazing cinematography.
Ennio Morricone's music makes this great movie even better.Harrison Ford is the ultimate normal guy hero.
If you want a realistic, well-directed, atmospheric thriller that maintains its momentum the whole way, look no further than this film.The plot is threadbare initially, with Harrison Ford playing a doctor whose wife disappears from their hotel room.
As I am not an avid movie nut,although I'd like to be,my views are of a complete rookie.I have just watched Frantic for the first time,never heard of it.Of course Harrison Ford was top notch as always and the other character actors were impressive and realistic.But I have never heard of,let alone seen Emmanuel Steigner before.Wow!!
But if one can Go With the Flow of this Taut Tale of Hitchcockian Misdirection and Wrong Place and Wrong Time Conceit, the Film Engages.Harrison Ford is the Driven Husband out to find His Wife who Wandered Off, or so it Seems, after Their Arrival in Paris.
This is a thrilling film that delivers plentiful amounts of fun and excitement all the way through.Roman Polanski really shows that he knows how to tell a compelling story through Frantic.
There's something very intriguing about the dialouge and acting here that makes you want to know more, and keeps you enthralled in the mystery that Harrison Ford is trying so desperately to solve.All the acting in Frantic is excellent and is one of the most entertaining elements of the film.
Roman Polanski's usually excellent, artistic directing is great at creating the tension, the atmosphere, and the frenzy of Ford's "frantic" character.
The pace of the movie is very slow but worth the wait as Dr.Richard Walker (Harrison Ford) is caught up in a web of Parisian nightclubs, drugs, seedy characters and terrorist games in order to find his kidnapped wife.
The characters are believable and you get caught up in Richard Walker's (an ordinary man in an unordinary situation) journey to find his wife.Ford and Emmanuelle Seigner's performances are top-notch, the chemistry between the unlikely pairing is the making of the more interesting, tense and memorable scenes.
Polanski's direction is excellent and the movie is worth a watch just for a nostalgic look at 80's back street Paris.
As Harrison Ford's character, Dr. Walker, says in the movie, in responding to just this sort of mentality: "I'm talking about my wife here.
Polansky has lost none of his touch in bringing everyday life to frightening reality.Whenever I am in Paris I think of this film and feel much as Ford would have done looking for his wife.
Consquently, the ending is going to come as a bit of a disappointment, but the fun of this type of film is the trip and it's a very engaging and entertaining journey.Dr. Richard Walker and his wife Sondra (Harrison Ford and Betty Buckley, the latter of whom is actually five years younger than Ford but look ten years older) are on a trip in Paris for a medical conference.
Thus is the terrific premise behind Frantic, a movie which consistently builds on its momentum through some smart direction from Roman Polanski and another winning and sympathetic "everyman" performance from Ford (awful hair cut, however)(with his grey hair these days, I actually prefer the crewcut style), who's perfect for these kind of roles.
But Polanski, taking some cues here and there from Hitchcock and other film-noir pictures, does make this situation tense enough as its lead works his way through the dark underbelly of Paris.
Director Roman Polanski (Chinatown,Rosemary's baby)roars back to life with this highly enjoyable thriller in which Harrison Ford plays a doctor who goes to France and while he's in the shower his wife is taken hostage, the rest obviously is not to mention because it's not worth for those who haven't seen this entertaining thriller that never takes a break,it's a TOUR DE FORCE movie with a believable performance from Harrison ford.It rivals any Hitchcock and De Palma thriller movies and it's one of the best Ford movies he ever starred in.This is purely one of the most underrated movies from the IMDb users,why?Because it contains one of the most important elements in movies FUN and Entertainment..
This could possibly be the greatest film ever made!!!It was criminally, barbarically received coolly by both critics and audiences when released - for no apparent reason!!Many reviews have said up to the half-way point, it is as good as any hitchcock thriller; but from there it goes downhill.Speaking on behalf of the male population, this is where it picks up from the greatest film hitchcock never made to a surreal masterpiece!The reason for this, of course is the introduction of Roman Polanski's real life wife - Emmanuelle Seigner.
She is surely one of the most hypnotic, mysterious actresses ever to grace the screen.She has a raw, down to earth beauty, which fits in perfectly with the film's setting - The Paris underground: airport hangers, parking lots, alleys and seedy nightclubs.Never has Paris been shown in this light.The film perfectly shows the disillusionment of a stranger in a foreign place.The film also has a few nice touches which might be missed by a casual viewer, such as Harrison Ford's characters increasingly pathetic returns to his hotel as he grows increasingly "frantic".
This ironically low-key thriller's action is periodically interrupted by unnecessary scenes with no subtext, for example a dance sequence between the internally agitated Ford and Emmanuelle Seigner.It is a true paradox that pace is an issue for a film called Frantic.
Frantic is a formula suspense film easily pigeonholed with the rest of the 1980s Hollywood thrillers.The hero's essential obstacle being that he's a fish out of water, an American businessman in Paris who speaks no French and thus can hardly navigate his way through the city, much less a trail to his wife in which time is of the essence.
I think Mr. Ford was brilliant (he and polansky made this movie almost a documentary) and Melle Seigner a true paris-chick-stewardesse guiding poor good 'ol Fordy through this extraordinaire Hithc-hiking suspense en rose.
What was truly amazing about Frantic was Polanski's ability to turn ordinary situations (finding and opening a briefcase, climbing on the stairs, grabbing the timing device, even driving from the airport) into extended and memorable scenes where the level of dramatic tension was extended to the point beyond slight interest.Take the scene in the bedroom when Harrison Ford is originally searching for the briefcase and trying to open it up.
He's a great actor.You really should see this film a) if you like Polanski's films b) if you like Harrison Ford c) if you like realistic thrillers ****/*****.
Before "Breakdown" and "The Game" there was Roman Polanski's paranoia thriller "Frantic." Harrison Ford plays a doctor who, along with his wife, Sondra, takes a trip to Paris to go to a medical convention.
That made no sense to me, other than as a plot device to frustrate Richard.Things picked up for a while -- Richard's fight with the bureaucrats, both in the Parisian police station and the American consulate, were believable and frustrating (although Harrison Ford chose to play the part -- or Polanski and Gerard Brach chose to write the part -- more sarcastically than I thought would be helpful in such a situation).
Oh, come on!), the plot lost all believability for us.I did like the resolution of the mystery and the way the McGuffin was ultimately treated, but I wish the journey had been a little more engaging.The credits for this film announce "Introducing Emmanuelle Seigner", although she actually appeared in three minor roles before this.
Like I said Mr. Polanski is only director who can create same atmosphere like Hitchcock.Harrison Ford makes another good performance.
Actually his role is 100 percent Harrison Ford.Frantic isn't Roman Polanski's best work but still worth watching..
It starts with an American couple in Paris and a disappearance that comes out of a scene that seems to be shot from the point of view of De Palma, from behind the glass panel door of a shower, then Harrison Ford is approaching hotel personnel to ask about his missing wife, the otherworldly facade of the exotic backdrop is peeled to reveal from behind the mystique of Old Europe.
I recommend this to fans of Harrison Ford, Roman Polanski, kidnapper flicks and mystery-thrillers.
Put Cary Grant and Jimmy Stewart in the lead and you would swear it was a Hitchcock film.While not quite up to Grant and Stewart, I think this is one of Harrison Ford's top five movies: Put "Blade Runner," Mosquito Coast," "Working Girl," "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade," ahead of it, but it beats out "Witness," "Presumed Innocent," "Sabrina," and everything else he has done in the last 20 years.Emmanuelle Seigner, Polansky's wife keeps the movie ontrack with an excellent performance as a near femme fatale.The only misstep is the casting of Betty Buckley as Ford's wife.
Here Harrison Ford plays a doctor who goes to Paris with his wife for a conference meeting.
Its start very good, with Ford (our times Jimmy Stewart) searching for his wife and i think the film failed a little, when Polanski introduce his muse (later wife) Emmauelle Seigner (which is not a sophisticated Hitchcock heroine).
From the very beginning, this movie keeps you also 'Frantic', as Harrison Ford (Dr. Richard Walker) looks for his wife in the beautiful and romantic city of, 'Paris', where she was believed to have been kidnapped.Other than the great plot, the film delivers great music that suits the film, which include a song from the one and only 'Grace Jones', called 'Stange', which when sung, gives you a wonderful French atmosphere in the movie.
Roman Polanski is one of my favorite directors, yet "Frantic" feels like a strange stunt on his part--it creates a sense of unease early on, has a strong performance from Harrison Ford at his most popular, and finds an appealing femme fatale in Emmanuelle Seigner.
In a hotel room in Paris, a doctor (Harrison Ford) comes out of the shower and finds that his wife has disappeared.
This movie is about a woman who disappears from a hotel in Paris and how the husband (Harrison Ford) desperately tries to find her back.
In Frantic, Harrison Ford plays a doctor who travels to Paris for a medical convention, but his plans change when, upon stepping out of his hotel shower, he finds his wife (Betty Buckley) gone.
Harrison Ford plays a Doctor who has traveled to Paris with his wife for a work convention and to take in the sights, however, when the couple arrive at the hotel they realize they have mistakenly picked up the wrong bag at the airport.
I noticed that Harrison Ford doesnt become "Frantic" until the last half hour of the film, and that was the part that made the movie seem so good the last time.
(Remember that it was directed by Roman Polanski.) Of course, Ford's character never does have sex with the young woman, so that's just another red herring.There are also no good shots of Paris here.
Frantic (1988) *** (out of 4) An American doctor (Harrison Ford) and his wife travel to Paris for business but when the husband comes out of the shower he notices that his wife is gone.
The good direction and performances make FRANTIC worth watching but both the star and Polanski have much better out there..