Rear Window

1998  NR  DRAMA/TELEVISION  1h 29min

CAST— Christopher Reeve, Daryl Hannah, Robert Forster

MUSIC— David Shire  DIRECTOR— Jeff Bleckner  BASED ON— It Had to be Murder (story), by Cornwall Woolrich

     A modern re-working of the classic Hitchcock film Rear Window (1954) falls short of greatness. Quadriplegic architect Christopher Reeve has little to do but work on his designs and stare out the window, which becomes his pastime of choice. He begins to peer into other apartments and begins to notice a few new faces around him. One in particular is an abused wife that he begins to become attached to. When she is suddenly gone one day he grows suspicious of her husband. With the help of friends and a few electronic gizmos Reeve sets up a twenty-four hour surveillance on this apartment, hoping to catch some clue as to the whereabouts of the missing woman. Could she finally have had the guts to leave this volatile relationship… or is the answer something sinister? Minimal update has zero thrills and no suspense, even by TV movie standards. Stick with the original.

OUR RATING— * ½

ORIGINAL— Rear Window (1954)