Mirage

Contrary to what the previous person wrote, the first 10 minutes do not give away the story! Why would they, this is a thriller, not an instructional film.

But more importantly, you will miss this film's "signature" shot of a man falling from the top floor of a Manhattan skyscraper! The previous reviewer couldn't know this because... he missed the first 10 minutes!

Since IMDb requires me to write "10 lines," I'll go on to say, that after seeing this movie you will never think of cost accountants the same way again... as if you think about them now...

--Gary

This wonderfully ingenious mystery is one of the better faux Hitchock films out there. The setup is excellent, the mystery comes quick and keeps deepening, and the cast is solid, especially Matthau.

The mystery is clever and the solution is also pretty clever and holds together nicely. So the whole movie *should* be great.

But as ingenious as it is, the creators couldn't find a neat way to explain it all, resulting in a bit too much exposition in the last quarter.

And once the central mystery is solved, there is still a story to deal with, and the movie really struggles with that, in part because it seems afraid to really deal with the political issues it raises, like some movie from the 40s that tries to follow the plight of an unwed mother without mentioning sex. It's not that I didn't understand the whole story by the end, but that the resolution had a strange, muted feeling to it.

Still, overall this is well worth watching.

I rented this in honor of Walter Matthau - and he was the liveliest part of this film - the screen really came alive when he was on screen. I love Greg Peck - but he was pretty low key in the part, maybe a little too much so. Diane Baker was quite good - her career was really on an upswing when she made this film - wonder why she didn't become a bigger star.

Definitely an entertaining movie - with some nice twists and turns to keep you interested all the way to the end.

I've always had great affection for this film, ever since seeing it in a theatre as a teenager.

First, a major innovation in thrillers - flashbacks done as direct jump-cuts into the actual flow of the film (no wavy lines or warped visuals to announce to the audience that they're seeing a flashback) This movie demanded that you keep up with what was unfolding and trusted you to figure out what was past and present.

Peter Stone's script - sharp, thrilling and funny, very much like Ernest Lehman's work on "North By Northwest" and Stone's own work on "Charade" and "Arabesque".

The villains...priceless...the grumpy, elderly hit-man who accosts Peck in Central Park...brilliant idea. Jack Weston's wisecracking hit-man..(a seemingly jolly joker, who lets his mask drop briefly in a pivotal scene with Peck) And of course, George Kennedy as Willard, a rampaging psycho who nurses grudges against victims who dare to defend themselves. I almost forgot Kevin McCarthy as the quintessential sniveling corporate toady.

A true classic....and a total crime and injustice that it's not on DVD yet.

Directed by Edward Dmytryk, this film shows Gregory Peck suffering from amnesia and he soon learns it's a life and death situation. He tries to recover his memory before those who are trying to kill him succeed. He tries to make sense of it all. I found it exceedingly difficult to stay with it because there seemed to be no ending, but wait!! What a way to go to recover what happened and why! The film takes place in New York, and the acting and music are sure winners! Walter Mathau, Diane Baker, Kevin McCarthy, Walter Abel all show great intensity in feeling and emotion. 7/10