I can see why people may like this film. Basically, it is a very good idea and the acting is perfectly fine. I liked the main guy and all involved. It's just that to me personally, the story moved along so slowly and almost pointlessly at times. I really do like the well made Giallo films and such, and I know this one is more of a somewhat suspenseful police / wrong man story, but if perhaps they had plotted the innocent man's actions a little tighter and gave a little more meaning to the things he does rather than spending about half the time with him just aimlessly running around, I honestly think it would have had more impact. There just wasn't very much 'focus' for the audience here. There didn't seem to be that tension that would hold an audience and keep them in true suspense. I think the story was just too loose and kind of generalized and vague, rather than plotting the story in such a way to have just a little more complexity so as to ratchet up the tension and suspense and really draw people in.
Without giving anything away, I really did like the scene towards the end which was a bit of a surprise. Let's just say that the conversation and explanations added a nice textured layer to the story, and to me was probably the strongest scene. It also gave a new layer of depth to the story which was nice, and gave it a bit more meaning in the way it played out from that point. But overall, I felt that the pace for this kind of clearly Hitchcockian story was WAY too laid back and bland. If they had given more depth and texture to both of the primary characters I think it would have really helped the story a lot. And, just a secondary observation... The soundtrack I thought was pretty lame. It didn't fit the theme of the movie at all. It was this odd, very repetitive song that reminded me more of a romantic couple walking along the beach or downtown, and NOT anything I would associate with a Crime Thriller. I think that if they had given it a really goosed up soundtrack like many films at that time, it really could have added to a more tense, suspenseful mood, instead of this bland, flat song they keep playing over and over. Most odd...
A decent watch, well acted, a good story, but just ultimately not really that terribly engaging as a movie experience. I think based on a strong curve between people who primarily like these kinds of films and people in general, ones who are familiar with this style will probably like it better (although there honestly are much better and more gripping ones out there) But, my thought is that for people in general, they're likely to find it kind of slow. Reviewers have compared this strongly to 'INVESTIGATION OF A CITIZEN ABOVE SUSPICION' which goes a LOT farther to demonstrate corruption and political favouritism by the authorities. But, this one barely touches on those themes at all, despite what some of the reviewers say. I gave it a '6' which I feel is a bit generous, but going by other reviewers here who apparently do like these kinds of films and really liked this one, I tilted my rating a bit more towards those who would likely favour it...
Without giving anything away, I really did like the scene towards the end which was a bit of a surprise. Let's just say that the conversation and explanations added a nice textured layer to the story, and to me was probably the strongest scene. It also gave a new layer of depth to the story which was nice, and gave it a bit more meaning in the way it played out from that point. But overall, I felt that the pace for this kind of clearly Hitchcockian story was WAY too laid back and bland. If they had given more depth and texture to both of the primary characters I think it would have really helped the story a lot. And, just a secondary observation... The soundtrack I thought was pretty lame. It didn't fit the theme of the movie at all. It was this odd, very repetitive song that reminded me more of a romantic couple walking along the beach or downtown, and NOT anything I would associate with a Crime Thriller. I think that if they had given it a really goosed up soundtrack like many films at that time, it really could have added to a more tense, suspenseful mood, instead of this bland, flat song they keep playing over and over. Most odd...
A decent watch, well acted, a good story, but just ultimately not really that terribly engaging as a movie experience. I think based on a strong curve between people who primarily like these kinds of films and people in general, ones who are familiar with this style will probably like it better (although there honestly are much better and more gripping ones out there) But, my thought is that for people in general, they're likely to find it kind of slow. Reviewers have compared this strongly to 'INVESTIGATION OF A CITIZEN ABOVE SUSPICION' which goes a LOT farther to demonstrate corruption and political favouritism by the authorities. But, this one barely touches on those themes at all, despite what some of the reviewers say. I gave it a '6' which I feel is a bit generous, but going by other reviewers here who apparently do like these kinds of films and really liked this one, I tilted my rating a bit more towards those who would likely favour it...