Still of the Night [VHS]
Fresh from his huge success with the belovedKramer vs. Kramer, writer-director Robert Benton chose to make a 180-degree turn with this frosty thriller. Roy Scheider plays a Manhattan psychologist, Sam Rice, who is dragged into a murder investigation when one of his patients is killed. The prime suspect is played by Meryl Streep, then at the height of her stardom (the film was released within a week of Streep's triumphantSophie's Choicein 1982). Rice understandably lets his basic instincts take over and falls for this brisk, blond mystery woman, though he can't help wondering whether she will kiss him or kill him. The movie may be chilly, but it's well executed, with all-cool style and Hitchcockian angles. Benton gets good work from an expert supporting cast, including Jessica Tandy as Rice's mother, who's also a shrink.--Robert Horton