And The Food Sucked Too: Frantic

Frantic (1988, directed by Roman Polanski)

Frantic starts out really well. The dialogue between Harrison Ford and all the hotel staff members, strangers on the street and seedy folk in the bars is great. It's believable, mostly because everyone asks the obvious questions instead of ignoring them for some scriptwriter's egocentrisms.

After about the hour mark the mystery disappears and it turns into a predictable chase movie. The feeling of being lost in a foreign country full of unsympathetic people who speak a different language is lost. Harrison Ford as a respected doctor bumbling around Paris goes from convincing and tragic to "when is he going to save the day already?"

I'll leave it at that. A movie that starts with a lot of promise but doesn't deliver.

Oh and I almost forgot. The entire story should never have taken place. When the kidnappers come at the beginning looking for a suitcase, why do they kidnap Harrison Ford's wife instead of the suitcase? They apparently don't even look for it. Huge misstep early on.



3 stars
Similar to: The Man Who Knew Too Much, The Fugitive, Presumed Innocent