dbborroughs Review of North by Northwest

North by Northwest (1959)

Good but not quite one of the greatest films of all time

[7/10 · 25 September 2009]

Considered one of the best of Hitchcock's films I find that I'm not that big a fan of the film. Its not that it's a bad movie, rather I think that the film has been ripped off and re-staged so many times that any power the film might have had is rather dissipated. Its kind of like watching Citizen Kane or some other film that is said to have changed the way movies are done and finding that they don't play all that well. The reason is, like North by Northwest that they changed the rules and have been so copied it hard to see what was so revolutionary about them. As it stands now the story of Cary Grant being mistaken for someone else and having to flee from both the police and the bad guys is exciting, especially in its set pieces, but the rest of it isn't anything special and has the feel of been there and done that especially when compared with Hitchcock's other films. Most certainly worth seeing, just be prepared to wonder what all the shouting is about.