The House on Carroll Street

source: The House on Carroll Street

Trailer—The House on Carroll Street

The House on Carroll Street

Although the film's story-line is fiction, the facts of this low-key thriller are based on truth and provide a 'what if' scenario that keeps the viewer engaged. The director, Peter Yates, captured a style of filming and cinematography that makes it feel almost like an undiscovered Hitchcock film. Kelly McGillis is believable, although perhaps not quite the typical Hitchcock blonde, and Jeff Daniels may sound a bit too modern in some of his speech inflections, but Everything else about this film reeked of authenticity, from the genuine feel of the sets and authentic but real clothing, to the dialogue. I don't know why this film rated only a middlin score with viewers - perhaps they were expecting more of an action thriller,rather than the political intrigue style of thriller that it is.

Well, I have. This is one of the last non-ironic, non-twisted thrillerplots of the mainstream movie industry of the past century. Afterwards, most thriller movies either turned "Die Hard" (nonsensical action) or "Seven" (near nonsensical twist). The thrillerplot is also serving as a shadowplay of the subplot - the failed relationship between Daniels and McGillis. The McGillis character is of course crucial. Two scenes underline her search for personal insight and freedom, where Daniels for his part gives up. One is where she is portrayed in the dark windows of the neighbourhouse, before breaking the glass. Two is her lone fight with the villain at the central train station, where Daniels is as passive as any antihero of movie history. She did kill the boy of course, and she is still waiting for that man. Is she wrong or is she right? She is she.

When I checked this one out of the library, I thought it might be an early 50's film-noir about spy smuggling but it turns out to be a 1988 effort to reconstruct an era circa 1951 when World War II memories were fresh and looking for Reds was becoming a national pastime. Unfortunately, the reconstruction of 50's scenes comes off a whole lot better than the picture. Jeff Daniels does a nice little job as the government agent with a heart but the story has more holes than McCarthy's logic. Kelly McGinniss spends the movie being pursued--in libraries, on roof tops, in train stations, you name it, but there's something lacking--I think it's called a plot. They would have been better off chucking the Nazi bad guy stuff and straying with the McCarthy smear of our heroine. Do it in black and white and build the picture of the sinister democracy it could have been.

Not unlike a simple-minded Nancy Drew, McGillis plays a nosey but reluctant witness to Nazi war criminal underground railroad skullduggery who foils countless bad guys while falling in like with an FBI agent (Daniels) who doesn't carry a gun because they're too heavy. Yeah, right. Good old fashioned melodrama, "The House on Carroll Street" is a stagey, obvious, scripted, stiff, and sanitized for your protection. Recommended for viewers who prefer melodrama over reality.

The film has good pace, and excellent photography, and is very much in the style of Hitchcock even to the music which, at times, one feels was almost written by Bernard Herrmann. A simple story perfectly developed, with an economical and sharp script.

This movie had its moments, but i actually enjoyed it. Hitchcock style film with an interesting plot. If you like hitchcock, you will like this. The cast is good with Kelly McGillis and Jeff Daniels very well casted and Mandy Patinkin is excellent in a rare role.

This is a wonderfully Hitchcockian, quite realistic, but also nostalgic return to the time when some people were looking for Communists under every bed, as well as in Hollywood and =Life= magazine. Kelly McGillis is terrific as the idealistic civil liberties type who discovers Nazis in the garden and her own personal SS man in a Senator's office. Mandy Patinkin is really convincing as the Senate staffer who hounds McGillis from her job. He even looks a little like a famous politician with the initials RMN. For a bang-up thriller without any shooting, car chases or explosions, this is one of the best videos around.