The Penthouse (1989 TV Movie) User Reviews

You will enjoy this if you like David Hewlett - I did

[kespridliz · 6/10 · 5 June 2011]

The basic premise of The Penthouse is that a young man loves a young woman and wants to be with her forever. Unfortunately he's a little nuts. After breaking out of an asylum he tries to see her the usual way by going to her front door but is stopped by multiply doormen so he does things his way.

David Hewlett plays a very convincing madman, and Robin Givens plays a very good frightened woman. The police procedure in this movie seems a little unconventional and the police characters are quite one dimensional. But I found that this did not matter as the two main leads inside the penthouse had depth of character and as these were the only two that really mattered who cares about the rest. I gave this a 6/10 due to the police and other characters being quite predictable.

I must admit that I only watched this movie because I am a David Hewlett fan and wanted to see as much as possible of his work as I consider him a very talented actor.

As this story progressed I started to feel sorry for his character which I think was the intention. So by the time the ending comes you really don't want him to die, which seems inevitable due to the point of madness he has got to and the one dimensional police outside. I won't say if he does or not but this movie was not that easy to get hold of so I will just say if you are a David Hewlett fan and can find this movie - I suggest you watch and enjoy.

What a Waste

[cstotlar-1 · 4/10 · 16 March 2011]

Why was this film ever made? I tried to find something of value in it - anything of any value - and came up empty-handed. The script is really rather silly, considering the seriousness of the situation, the acting was adequate, pacing was sluggish to say the least. Perhaps the most annoying aspect was the musical score by Peter Manning Robinson. This is a prime example of one of those one-man deals that never made it past the clichés. The scoring was awful and the music just sort of came and went for no ostensible reason. It also cut off in mid-phrase once or twice. What a waste!

Curtis Stotlar

Robin Givens by herself lifts "The Penthouse."

[brooksduane54 · 17 October 2011]

"The Penthouse" is, to come out with it, the best damn made-for-TV film ever, and the reason for that is...Robin Givens. As Dinah St. Clair, the pampered, sheltered young she-babe held captive in her penthouse apartment by a psychopathic ex (David Hewlett), she never, ever fails to supply what's needed--warm-welcome charm in her early scenes with Hewlett, frightened-hostage terror when he reveals himself, steady calm in her negotiating scenes with him, forceful advocacy when going to bat for him during her telephone scene with the police, searing anger when she employs reverse psychology with him, and, finally, heartfelt grief when she sees him gunned down by a police marksman. And at all times-- repeat, at all times--she looks positively scrumptious, especially since she spends almost the entire picture lusciously barefoot. The other actors--Hewlett, Robert Guillaume as her father, Donnelly Rhodes and Cedric Smith as the negotiating lieutenant and the police commissioner, respectively--are all able and professional but, in the end, what makes "The Penthouse" a great, great made-for-television film is the fact that Robin applies her monumental charm and sexiness in the first scene and doesn't let up during the course of the entire picture.