The Bedroom Window

It's a thriller set in Baltimore, Maryland, in the 1980s. It's based on the 1971 novel, "The Witnesses," by Anne Holden. It follows a young executive who, amid an affair with his boss's wife, winds up under suspicion for three murders.

Terry Lambert (Steve Guttenberg) is an executive in a construction company owned by Collin Wentworth (Paul Shenar). Terry has had the hots for Collin's wife, Sylvia (Isabelle Huppert), and convinces her to leave a party early and come to his place. After their tryst, he goes to the bathroom. Sylvia hears screaming outside and, from the bedroom window, witnesses a man brutally assaulting a woman. The man runs away when he sees Sylvia. Unfortunately, another young woman is murdered nearby that same evening. To protect their relationship, Terry goes to the police claiming to have been the witness to the assault from the window. He meets the assault victim, Denise (Elizabeth McGovern), at a lineup. From Sylvia's description, Terry thinks he recognizes the villain in the lineup, Chris Henderson (Brad Greenquist), but is uncertain.

During the rest of the film, Terry begins to follow Henderson. Through the complex storyline, the police begin to suspect Terry of two murders because they know he has lied to them, though they're not clear about what. A final murder forces Terry and Denise to try to set a trap for the killer, and the film's climax reveals how that effort went.

"The Bedroom Window" is a pretty good thriller for the first hour and a half. But, unfortunately, the final half-hour includes plot sequences that seriously detract from the believability of the ending.

Many reviewers perceive a lack of chemistry between Guttenberg and Huppert. I had no issue with this, considering Huppert's character was naturally manipulative and self-serving. McGovern's role suffers from some of the silly script at the film's end, but she is effective through the trial scenes. Shenar's character was a little too clueless.

A young man named Terry Lambert (Steve Guttenberg) has a romantic fling with his bosses' wife. With their bedroom "activities" in progress, an outside assault occurs that gets Lambert involved, ultimately in murder.

The film's underlying "all for love" theme is not really credible. Plot contrivances, along with incredulous coincidences and improbable timing imply a screenplay that was not well thought out. Further, the lead role in this film calls for a serious actor who can express some feeling. "Police Academy" Guttenberg, boyish and goofy looking, does not lend credibility to the role. That, combined with a dubious script closes any window of believability in this overwrought thriller. And that's too bad because "The Bedroom Window" does present a fairly engaging noir look, as a result of some great lighting and camera work. Production design is also quite good.

The film's visual style is about all I can recommend in the way of interest. The ending is rather melodramatic, and includes some unintentional humor in some scenes that involve a man in a phone booth.

Although he rarely gets respect from the critics, Steve Guttenberg was quite a big film star in the 1980's. He made his first impression as a pudgy teenager who gets killed by Gregory Peck in the excellent "Boys From Brazil"(1978). The classic "Diner"(MGM,1982) established him as a fine actor and in "Police Academy"(1984) he was suddenly a buff leading man in a critically maligned yet audience loved box office blockbuster. He was now a "STAR" and the smash hits kept coming: several "Police Academy" sequels, "Short Circuit"(1985) and its sequel, the Oscar-winning classic Ron Howard's "Coccoon"(Universal, 1985) whose pool scene established him as a minor sex symbol, and finally the massive blockbuster "Three Men and a Baby"(Disney, 1987). Director/writer Curtis Hanson then cast him in the excellent Hitchcockian thriller "The Bedroom Window"(1987) alongside another young star of the time Elizabeth McGovern who had made a major impact in "Ragtime"(Paramount, 1981). Now he was a full-fledged star of a Top "A" quality film. This excellent thriller will keep you glued to screen. Hanson's taut direction, the gorgeous cinematography, and the excellent cast will hold your attention. The script has a couple holes but it is still very good. And Guttenberg who had a goofy face and could look geeky if not photographed carefully looks great so this should have been another feather in his cap. However this film tanked. Why I will never know. After this he would have one more big hit with "Three Men and a Little Lady"(Disney, 1990) and that was it. His career never recovered. Nonetheless his best films are definitely worth a look and "The Bedroom Window" is certainly among his best.

Steve Guttenberg is a real surprise here, playing the innocent suspected of being a killer. His transformation to hero type is not always believable, but his performance is earnest. If you throw out the somewhat of a stretch ending, you are left with a twisty thriller that delivers strong entertainment value. The movie is quite tense at times, and the Baltimore filming location works. I put this film in the same category as movies like "Red Rock West" and "Clay Pigeons". All three have a mostly believable script, competent acting, and most importantly, all three are very entertaining. "The Bedroom Window" is recommended of it's type. - MERK

The Bedroom Window is one of those films you can just stick on to blow the cobwebs away when you're tired. It's not life-affirming or magnificent; but it's well constructed and a lot of fun to watch. The film is often compared to Hitchcock, and that's mostly owing to the central plot which clearly takes influence from Rear Window, although director Curtis Hanson does occasionally implement a Hitchcock-like style during the rest of the film. It is not, however, comparable to the films Brian De Palma made in the seventies and eighties. The film focuses on a man named Terry Lambert. Terry is having an affair with Sylvia; his boss' wife. Whilst at his apartment one night, Sylvia spots a man being attacked out of the window. The next morning, another girl turns up dead and Terry, thinking the two incidents may be related, decides to go to the police and tell them that he witnessed the attack. However, things soon start to spiral out of control when Sylvia will have nothing to do with it for fear of the affair being exposed, and the police begin suspecting Terry.

Steve Guttenberg; an actor often not taken seriously because of his ties to the Police Academy series, takes the lead role and does surprisingly well with it. Guttenberg cuts a likable figure who is easy to root for, and that is important in a film like this. The story moves well throughout; and although I initially felt that almost two hours was too long for a film like this; the time is well used and the film flies by. The Bedroom Window is based on a novel by Anne Holden; and directed by Curtis Hanson; the talented director of the 1997 masterpiece L.A. Confidential. Hanson's direction is assured and he does a good job of telling the story. The support cast is decent too; the casting of Isabelle Hupert is a bit of a surprise considering most of her previous films were made in her native France; but Elizabeth McGovern is a good choice as the victim of the attack towards the start. The first two thirds of the film are rather subdued; and so it's a bit of a surprise when the film explodes into life for the final half hour. However, the change works well and the payoff is worth it.