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Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Frantic (1988)

An American surgeon (Harrison Ford) and his wife (Betty Buckley) are visiting Paris for a medical conference. When he gets out of the shower at the hotel, his wife has disappeared and to find her he must take an excursion into a dark and deadly world of drugs, terrorists and murder. This first rate, crackerjack thriller is directed by Roman Polanski and I doubt Hitchcock could do any bettter. Ford's (in one of his best performances, I'd say best if it weren't for MOSQUITO COAST) role could easily have been played by James Stewart or Cary Grant in their prime. He perfectly embodies the strong, solid American image on a strange soil yet with enough humility that he doesn't come across as an "ugly American". The sexy Emmanuelle Seigner is captivating as the naive smuggler who picks up the wrong suitcase (which belonged to Buckley) and thus spins both their worlds into a maelstrom of precariousness. Polanski keeps things twisting and turning as rapidly as possible, accompanied by an intense and atmospheric Ennio Morricone score. With John Mahoney, Alexandra Stewart, David Huddleston and Gerard Klein.

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