The Bedroom Window is a decent thriller based on a novel by Anne Holden. This adaptation to the screen is written and directed by Curtis Hanson who, of course, would later go on to make the brilliant L.A. Confidential. The film has a fairly Hitchcockian story line, and even apes Hitchcock's favourite theme of an innocent man circumstantially framed for a crime he didn't commit. However, Hitch always went to great lengths to ensure his stories were logical (in North By Northwest, for example, he and script-writer Ernest Lehmann spent a year getting the credibility of the screenplay just right). In The Bedroom Window there are just too many plot holes, too many moments that defy plausibility, and therefore the film cannot be seriously likened in quality to a Hitchcock movie. That's not to say it doesn't have enjoyable features along the way.
Terry Lambert (Steve Guttenberg) has an affair with his boss's wife Sylvia Wentworth (Isabelle Huppert). While the pair of them are making love, they hear a disturbance outside the bedroom window. Sylvia goes to the window to see what is going on and witnesses a nasty thug assaulting a young woman. Later the same night, another woman is killed by the same thug. Terry knows that the police need to be informed about the crime but is worried that if Sylvia goes forward with her story, the truth of her sexual infidelity will get out and ruin her marriage. So, in an attempt to nail the thug but protect his lover, he tells the police that HE saw the attack. Alas, Terry's lies are quickly exposed in court and he inadvertently implicates himself as the attacker. Terry gets to know the woman who was originally assaulted outside the bedroom window, Denise Connally (Elizabeth McGovern), and she too realises that he has been lying about what saw. However, she decides that he has at least done the wrong thing for the right reasons and gives him a chance to make amends. Together they plan to trap the real thug, Carl Henderson (Brad Greenquist), by having Denise use herself as bait to lure him into a trap. But the plan is fraught with danger, and things don't go according to plan .
It is unusual to find Guttenberg is a serious role, and he struggles to shake his comic image. His mannerisms and personality seem too laid back for a guy who has been adulterous with his boss's wife, lied in court, and faces suspicion for serious crimes. The other actors fare better, despite the fact that many of their characters act and speak in a less than believable manner throughout the film. The Bedroom Window does succeed in other departments, though. Its suspense is quite nicely maintained, and veteran photographer Gilbert Taylor (of Star Wars fame) shoots the film with a nice feel for a moody night-time atmosphere. This is one of those films that is best enjoyed purely on a surface level if you start scratching the surface, the flaws and discrepancies become rather obvious. But if you just watch it with your brain in neutral it passes the time pleasantly enough.
Terry Lambert (Steve Guttenberg) has an affair with his boss's wife Sylvia Wentworth (Isabelle Huppert). While the pair of them are making love, they hear a disturbance outside the bedroom window. Sylvia goes to the window to see what is going on and witnesses a nasty thug assaulting a young woman. Later the same night, another woman is killed by the same thug. Terry knows that the police need to be informed about the crime but is worried that if Sylvia goes forward with her story, the truth of her sexual infidelity will get out and ruin her marriage. So, in an attempt to nail the thug but protect his lover, he tells the police that HE saw the attack. Alas, Terry's lies are quickly exposed in court and he inadvertently implicates himself as the attacker. Terry gets to know the woman who was originally assaulted outside the bedroom window, Denise Connally (Elizabeth McGovern), and she too realises that he has been lying about what saw. However, she decides that he has at least done the wrong thing for the right reasons and gives him a chance to make amends. Together they plan to trap the real thug, Carl Henderson (Brad Greenquist), by having Denise use herself as bait to lure him into a trap. But the plan is fraught with danger, and things don't go according to plan .
It is unusual to find Guttenberg is a serious role, and he struggles to shake his comic image. His mannerisms and personality seem too laid back for a guy who has been adulterous with his boss's wife, lied in court, and faces suspicion for serious crimes. The other actors fare better, despite the fact that many of their characters act and speak in a less than believable manner throughout the film. The Bedroom Window does succeed in other departments, though. Its suspense is quite nicely maintained, and veteran photographer Gilbert Taylor (of Star Wars fame) shoots the film with a nice feel for a moody night-time atmosphere. This is one of those films that is best enjoyed purely on a surface level if you start scratching the surface, the flaws and discrepancies become rather obvious. But if you just watch it with your brain in neutral it passes the time pleasantly enough.