Movie Review - Don't Look Now

Don't Look Now (1973)

Starring Donald Sutherland and Julie Christie

Directed by Nicolas Roeg

***Currently streaming on Netflix*** 

Even though you may not have heard of it, Don't Look Now is a rather "revered" film.  Ebert calls it a "horror masterpiece" and he is not alone in his fawning.

My response to those praising this 1973 flick:  Don't listen to them.

This is one of the most boring films I've seen in years.  There's 108 minutes of set-up leading to, quite possibly, two of the worst final minutes of any film I've watched.

Julie Christie and Donald Sutherland are Laura and John Baxter, a married couple who lose their daughter in a tragic drowning.  Shortly after her death, the couple travels to Venice, Italy, for John to begin renovations on an old cathedral.  While there, Laura meets two old ladies, one of whom sees both visions of the couple's dead daughter and prophesies of the future, which, unfortunately for Laura and John appears to be filled with some more tragic events.

A promising set-up is completely wasted here by pretentious direction from Nicolas Roeg (who has since gone on to direct classics like Bad Timing: A Sensual Obsession and Erotic Tales II).  There's a self-importance on display that comes off as laughable.  Roeg never achieves any modicum of suspense or eeriness except for during the film's final minutes.  Unfortunately, those final minutes lead up to a ridiculous "reveal" that makes one wonder why the hell one spent nearly two hours with this flick.

As a positive, Julie Christie and Donald Sutherland are actually fine here, but their acting (which is filled with a surprising amount of chemistry) isn't nearly enough to save this so-called suspense "classic."

The RyMickey Rating:  D