Danielle Breton (Margot Kidder) is a French Canadian model living on Staten Island. Philip Woode takes her home after their appearance on a Candid Camera game show. She's separated from her Siamese twin Dominique Blanchion who is angry about being left behind in a mental hospital. It's their birthday and Dominique is coming for a visit. When Philip returns with a birthday cake, he is stabbed to death by a crazed Dominique which is witnessed by neighbor reporter Grace Collier (Jennifer Salt). Her ex-husband Emil is stalking her and finds Danielle disoriented and Philip dead. He helps her hide the dead body in the foldaway couch. Police detectives Kelly and Spinetti investigate but they don't find a body. The cops distrust the reporter and Grace must investigate on her own. Her editor insists on hiring private detective Joseph Larch (Charles Durning) to join her.
I often complain that characters in movies never call the cops. It's almost as bad when the cops turn out to be idiots. It doesn't make sense that the first cops on the scene are detectives rather than patrolmen. There's an argument about exigent circumstance which seems overblown and unreasonable. I can't understand why Grace is allowed into the apartment other than a need to advance the plot. If this actually happened, I expected uniformed cops to come and knock on the door looking for a victim. The cops dragging their feet is suppose to build tension but it build annoyance for me.
Director Brian De Palma is doing a homage to Alfred Hitchcock. There is a good deal of fun Rear Window scenes. The last act is quite compelling. There are a lot of goodness here but there are a few things keeps annoying me. I really don't understand why Larch doesn't call the cops about the couch. If they find the body, the cops could get the couch delivered in their own sting. These little logic problems just bug me.
I often complain that characters in movies never call the cops. It's almost as bad when the cops turn out to be idiots. It doesn't make sense that the first cops on the scene are detectives rather than patrolmen. There's an argument about exigent circumstance which seems overblown and unreasonable. I can't understand why Grace is allowed into the apartment other than a need to advance the plot. If this actually happened, I expected uniformed cops to come and knock on the door looking for a victim. The cops dragging their feet is suppose to build tension but it build annoyance for me.
Director Brian De Palma is doing a homage to Alfred Hitchcock. There is a good deal of fun Rear Window scenes. The last act is quite compelling. There are a lot of goodness here but there are a few things keeps annoying me. I really don't understand why Larch doesn't call the cops about the couch. If they find the body, the cops could get the couch delivered in their own sting. These little logic problems just bug me.