Review
What Lies Beneath
- Director
- Robert Zemeckis
- Year
- 2000
- Rating
- Reviewed by
- José Ruiloba a.k.a. Morris
- Review date
- Monday, October 02, 2000
In the vein of such movies as The Sixth Sense and Stir of Echoes, another movie with supernatural tones has just arrived. Ford? Pfeiffer? Zemeckis? Together? Let me tell you, I couldn’t have missed it for a million bucks. When the trailer came out, I heard a lot of people complaining about how much it revealed about certain plot points, so given that it was a mystery I decided not to see it at all. It was difficult, but I made it. And finally, I was regarded. I loved this movie. I don’t have problems when some directors are influenced by others and show it. If it’s done correctly, I’m on for it. This time, it’s none other than Hitchcock himself who is present all the time. There’s no way Zemeckis could have equaled a Hitchcock experience, but he tried, and he basically succeeded.
What this movie has to offer is a plot full of mystery where we never now what’ll happen next. The first half of the movie is kind of a Rear Window rip-off, where our leading lady (Michelle Pfeiffer) suspects strange stuff, maybe even a murder, are happening next door. His loving husband (Harrison Ford) can’t understand what’s going on with her. Stranger things start to happen that suggest things are not as simple as they seem to be.
The action is set at a beautiful but isolated house where photography is highly important for the effect it should take. When shown in a sunny day, the house seems like the perfect place, but when shown with shadows and a darker tone, the house seems terrifying. A lot of stuff goes on which leads to a last half hour where something quite unexpected happens and changes the tone of the movie. Even if at times it gets heavy handed and requires forced plot devices, the movie keeps our attention all the time and never lets go. Besides, by using different techniques, Zemeckis and his writer keep scaring the shit out of us. I really don’t care if sometimes the methods are too common. Again, if they work, perfect.
Michelle Pfeiffer is great in her role. Have I mentioned that she is one of the most beautiful women in the world? Add to this that she is also talented, so it’s a pleasure to watch her go through all these emotions and confusion. Ford is good in his standard role, but actually surprises a bit. The music adds the right touch, and the photography is excellent. Don’t be fooled by other critics, this movie works in many levels and you’ll have a lot of fun. Scary fun.
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Comments
Groucho wrote at 6/22/2002:
Though I did enjoy watching this movie, I agree with you Jacinda! It's a waste of talent, especially considered it was directed by Zemeckis. The mixture of genres wasn't such a bad idea but didn't come up the right way. What an unfortunate experiment! However, I do have to say that some scenes are extremely well done. All in all, it's a mildly entertaining film, though completely unmemorable.New comments are temporarily disabled
Jacinda wrote at 6/22/2002:
OK here we go with my criticism. The main problem with What Lies Beneath is that it can't decide for a genre. First it's like Rear Window (I still liked that part.), then it's about ghosts, then about paranoia, then about husbands going crazy..The movie could have been acceptable with a different ending but the sudden change in Ford's character was so unbelievable. The final scene was more like a teen horror flick and simply ridiculous.
for Michelle Pfeiffer acting is brilliant, even though the script is lousy. But that's about the only positive thing I could say about the movie. In the end it's a waste of talent with too many ideas mixed up in one plot. Don't even dare to compare it with Hitchcock!