Just perfect...

Good start, but then it gets ruined

Good concept, poorly executed.

Better Late Then Never

A less-heralded movie from La Streep's impeccable track record, which is rather unanticipated because, STILL OF THE NIGHT is the much-anticipated follow-up of writer-director Robert Benton's Oscar champ KRAMER VS. KRAMER (1979), which as we all know, won Streep her first golden statuette. So it is quite intriguing to dredge it up from oblivion and burrow into the unwonted qualitative drop.Gestated by Benton and his regular collaborator David Newman well before KRAMER VS. KRAMER, this neo-Hitchcock pastiche probably is a carte blanche reward in the wake of his landslide triumph with the former, however, the last thing one might expect from an acclaimed screenwriter like Benton is the cockamamie plot in this shoddy whodunit, which toys with a man's dreadful thought of smitten with a woman, whom he suspect might want to rub him out, a tantalizing nod to human's morbid obsession with sex and death.As this lean psychosexual study plays out, a personable if overtly dithering Roy Scheider moderately ekes out that peculiar ambivalence, he plays Dr. Sam Rice, a Manhattan shrink bewitched by Brooke Reynolds (Streep), the mistress of his recently murdered client George Bynum (Sommer), and every evidence intimates that Brooke is the killer, including a slipshod second murder which doesn't make much sense in light of the context, or lousy filmmaking so to speak, for sure, relegating a paper-thin secondary character as the knife-wielding culprit in the reveal doesn't help, whose schlocky comeuppance is as phony as that preposterous "green box" dream analysis.Hopping on the film's slim pickings of merits, Benton at least, keeps the film's noir and nocturnal ambience in check, hoarily utilizes jump-scares and (repeatedly) a grisly dummy to amp up suspense and spookiness in spite of its strangely languid pace, but what captures our attention is none other than Streep's sole bash as a femme fatale spiffed up with Hitchcockian blonde tresses (of course, Benton is not above to sexualize her in that ludicrous back-massaging episode, which only leaves us wondering the incredible work ethic of her oriental masseur), she is gorgeous but beset with jitters, calculated, defensive and somewhat bluntly standoffish, conferred with a munificent long take for poignant explication of her past (a treatment would otherwise be replaced with action-packed flashback if the actress is not up for the task), and she nails it beautifully, again, which comes off as a maddening case of underutilizing a real trouper's talent, short-changed by the story itself, so is a hale Jessica Tandy, not a man's nattering mother stereotype, but a more rational mind that had it been given the chance, might solve this nonsensical mystery way ahead of her libido-driven son.

Still of the Night is a movie for those 16 and above and for those who enjoy mystery/thrillers. The movie has three stars in it that I love to watch. The film has Roy Schneider, Jessica Tandy and Meryl Streep. All of these stars are mature in their acting and help carry the film. The film may be best enjoyed on a rainy afternoon or late at night because of the mystery/thriller aspect of the film. Still Of The Night begins at a slow pace. The film moves at an okay pace once it gets going. The cast interacts well together. Still Of the Night is not a memorable film and is easily forgotten within a day or two. Grab your popcorn and sit in front of a fire and enjoy the film.

This is exactly the kind of movie I most often try to catch from the few movie channels I subscribe to. 70's and 80's movies, which I was too young to see when they came out. I wouldn't necessarily buy or rent a DVD in case it was available and it's too unknown to be shown on national channels, but still well made and enjoyable. This was a perfect nostalgia trip to time when they made movies for adults. A thriller with very little action or violence.The plot is fairly simple and very much a homage to Hitchcock. A man falls for a "dangerous" blonde lady. In fact the biggest problem with the movie is that it's so obviously a Hitchcock homage that it's difficult to take it as a movie of it's own. For this kind of who dunnit, it might have also been nicer to have a bit more flesh around the bones, now the story is fairly short and they don't give away too many clues or herrings. At least not that I noticed.That being said, it is nicely stylish and 80's in a good way. All actors do a good job, especially Streep has a couple of very good scenes.One thing that picks the eye is that there is a lot of smoking in this movie. In this day and age it's pretty difficult to swallow, even tho I feel smoking is a way to create atmosphere in certain types of movies and it's not that much out of place here.If you are into movies which are not larger than life, this might be for you. It's a nice and slow little thriller which in the end is pretty forgettable, but enjoyable to watch.

An obvious homage to Hitchcock and old noir's, "Still of the Night" succeeds to a certain degree thanks to it's over-qualified cast. The mystery is pretty thin but the set up is nice. A murdered man may have told his psychiatrist something in the form of a dream - the murdered man's girlfriend seems to be the obvious suspect but the shrink is shielding her - the girlfriend has a shady past which may have led to the murder; all this reeks of classic Hitchcock and it culminates in a showdown in a creepy old house by the seaside. The film's mostly well done but the suspense scenes are awkwardly staged, the dream sequence falls short on mystery and is awfully low on visual style and the resolution is one of those tell-all-in-the-final-reel moment that you couldn't possibly have guessed to begin with. And the identity of the killer is a complete letdown.Still; it's nice to see Roy Scheider in the lead, he's always a likable performer and a very competent actor. Meryl Streep is always a class act and she pulls off her role with ease. It's also very nice to see Jessica Tandy though her role is minimal and could have been scrapped altogether. Robert Benton is a terrific filmmaker ("Nobody's Fool" a personal favorite) but suspense isn't his strong suit and despite a nice set up and a stylish walk-in-the-park-at-night murder sequence, the script is fairly pedestrian and the resolution wholly unsatisfying. It's still an OK way to spend an hour and a half thanks to the superb cast who all give good performances (Josef Sommer included).