Still of the Night

1982

Action / Crime / Drama / Mystery / Thriller

18
Rotten Tomatoes Critics - Certified Fresh 63% · 8 reviews
Rotten Tomatoes Audience - Spilled 48% · 500 ratings
IMDb Rating 6.0/10 10 5743 5.7K

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Plot summary

When one of his patients is found murdered, psychiatrist Dr. Sam Rice is visited by the investigating officer but refuses to give up any information. He's then visited by the patient's mistress, Brooke Reynolds, whom he quickly falls for despite her being a likely murder suspect. As the police pressure on him intensifies, Rice decides to attempt solving the case on his own and soon discovers that someone is trying to kill him as well.


Uploaded by: FREEMAN
August 03, 2016 at 05:03 AM

Director

Top cast

Meryl Streep as Brooke Reynolds
Roy Scheider as Sam Rice
Jessica Tandy as Grace Rice
Josef Sommer as George Bynum
720p.BLU 1080p.BLU
647.11 MB
1280*694
English 2.0
NR
23.976 fps
1 hr 33 min
Seeds 2
1.36 GB
1920*1040
English 2.0
NR
23.976 fps
1 hr 33 min
Seeds 4

Movie Reviews

Reviewed by JamesHitchcock 5 / 10

All those Hitchcock references do not make this a Hitchcock film

"Still of the Night" is one of the more obscure entries in Meryl Streep's filmography, even though it came out in 1982 in between two of her greatest films, "The French Lieutenant's Woman" and "Sophie's Choice". (Until it turned up recently on British television I had never previously seen it or even heard of it). It is a psychological thriller, directed by Robert Benton who had earlier directed Meryl in "Kramer v Kramer". It has often been described as having been influenced by the works of Alfred Hitchcock, and one of the obvious signs of this influence is the fact that the main character, like the heroine of "Spellbound", is a psychiatrist. (Hitchcock was fascinated by psychology and psychiatry, and often makes reference to them in his films).

Another Hitchcock touch is the idea of the "man in the street" who suddenly finds himself in trouble or in danger. When one of his patients is murdered Dr Sam Rice, a Manhattan psychiatrist, finds himself becoming emotionally involved with a young woman named Brooke Reynolds, who was not only a colleague of the dead man but also his mistress, and who is also a suspect in his murder. The plot is a complex one, involving Rice falling under suspicion with the police, who believe that he may be withholding evidence about the killing, and his placing himself in danger by his own attempts to solve the crime.

The film makes quite deliberate reference to a number of Hitchcock films. Besides the general psychiatric theme, there is also a dream sequence reminiscent of the one in "Spellbound". The appearance of a bird during this sequence is a reference to "The Birds" and possibly also to "Psycho", where Norman's hobby is stuffing birds. A fall from a bell tower recalls "Vertigo" and, as in "North by North West", there is a scene set in an auction room. (The murdered man, George Bynum, was a senior employee of an auction house). There are also scenes reminiscent of "Rear Window" and "Marnie". Jessica Tandy who plays Rice's mother (also a psychiatrist) appeared in "The Birds". Many of Hitchcock's films, including "Notorious", "Strangers on a Train" and "Psycho", feature a strong, dominant mother-figure.

Perhaps the most effective Hitchcock touch is the use of a trademark blonde heroine. Although this is far from being one of Meryl Streep's greatest films, she nevertheless gives a very accomplished performance as Brooke, portraying a woman who is clearly disturbed and frightened and who might just also be a psychopath, while leaving (as the conventions of the thriller genre require) that second point open to doubt. Had Meryl been twenty years older, she might have become one of the Master's great muses, along with the likes of Ingrid Bergman and Grace Kelly.

And yet any number of Hitchcock references do not in themselves make a Hitchcock film. "Still of the Night" falls along way short of the great man at his best, or even at his second-best. Roy Scheider does not make a very charismatic hero and, except perhaps in the final sequences, Benton never succeeds in generating the sort of nail-biting tension that Hitchcock was so skilled at conjuring up, even in some of his lesser films. Whereas Hitchcock could normally relieve that tension with some effective use of humour, "Still of the Night" is a pedestrian and humourless film, no more than an average eighties thriller. 5/10, largely for Streep's performance.

Reviewed by classicsoncall 7 / 10

"I got another twenty says she's not finished yet."

I'll dispense with the Hitchcock references, almost everyone else on this board already does so. I viewed it as a murder mystery, suspense thriller that did an interesting job of teaming Roy Scheider and Meryl Streep in a dubiously convoluted relationship. Scheider's can of Tab made it into the flick a number of times, enough that I thought that it's product placement went just a little overboard. The key to identifying the killer in the story hinged on a dream that the murdered George Bynum (Josef Sommer) related to psychiatrist Sam Rice (Scheider), and from there it becomes an almost too simple matter for Rice and Brooke Reynolds (Streep) to go home as happy campers. Although the manner in which Gail Phillips (Sara Botsford) fell over the balcony railing looked kind of awkward; that could have used a little work. Roy Scheider makes for a dashing leading man, and I've never seen Meryl Streep look as gorgeous. Throw in Jessica Tandy as Sam Rice's psychiatrist Mom, and the puzzle pieces come together without much of a problem.

Reviewed by ma-cortes 6 / 10

Mystery/thriller about a Manhattan psychiatrist infatuated with a strange woman

This intriguing movie packs thriller , tension , suspense, romance , unlimited excitement and plot twists . Sam Rice (Roy Scheider) , a Manhattan psychiatrist probes a patient's murder and soon afterward falls for the victim's mysterious mistress . Dr. Rice is visited by George Bynum (Joseph Sommer)'s co-worker and mistress Brooke Reynolds (Meryl Streep) with increasingly suspicious behavior . Later on , there comes the investigating officer Detective Vitucci (Joe Grifasi) dealing with the rare events . As Dr. Rice reviews the case notes on his sessions with Bynum and he suspects that Brooke may or may not the murderer . At the same time , Sam investigates the mysterious deeds and he puts his own life in risk .

This Hitchcock-style mystery/thriller contains suspense , tension , chills and continuous intrigue . The picture promises much but fails its objectives . It's suspenseful but often the mysterious elements have not quite gelled . There's also an exciting and intriguing dream sequence in which results to be resolved the killing similarly to ¨Spellbound¨ by Alfred Hitchcock . Roy Scheider gives good performance as a psychiatrist who starts his own investigation about a murder and falling in love for enigmatic blonde Brooke excellently acted by Meryl Streep . After her greatest hit ¨Kramer vs Kramer¨ that pushed Meryl's career forward , she was impressed enough to work again with Benton and played this ¨Still of the night¨ , however , it resulted to be a flop . Stylish cinematography by a magnificent cameraman , the Spanish Nestor Almendros , Benton's usual and full of lights and darks .

The motion picture is professionally directed by Robert Benton but without originally and this flick turns out to be thinly spread . Texas director has a varied career as he was an editor of magazine , production designer , set decorator and has written a number of imaginative stories for children . He realized few movies even accounting for those in whose screenplays he wrote as ¨Bonnie and Clyde¨ , ¨There was a crooked man¨ , ¨What's up doc ?¨ , ¨Superman¨ and even ¨Still of the night¨ . His big hit as director was the weepie ¨Kramer vs Kramer¨ and won him the Oscar for writing and direction , the next was warm-hearted ¨Places in the heart¨ with basic human values and revealed his softer side . Following filmmaking the underrated ¨Nadine¨ , a comic-strip comedy with Jeff Bridges and Kim Basinger . After that , he directed a gangster movie ¨Billy Bathgate¨ with Nicole Kidman and Dustin Hoffman , ¨Nobody's fool¨ which won Paul Newman an Academy Award nomination and he worked again with Benton four years later on ¨Twilight¨ . ¨Still of the night¨ was a failure and turned out to be a flop at the box office . Rating : Average , 5,5 . Only for Meryl Streep fans .

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