User reviews

Quiet thriller with great acting from Meryl Streep, taken a slightly different route with the paranoid performance from Roy Schnieder. Unfortunately some other of the other performances are quite poor, with the standard dumbed down cops. Slow to pick up, it's worth sticking with past the stock plot setup routines. There's some neat camera work to strengthen the guessing game and make you feel the paranoia and fear of the doctor. There's a fantastic sequence in central park where the Doctor follows a mystery woman, losing her beneath the light \ dark pools of street lights. Using the sound of her footsteps to pull your attention forward to a tunnel. The final moments of that sequence are brilliant. Throughout the lighting is used to great effect with all other senses and even performances extremely restrained. A good film which I'm sure has influenced many others of this genre.

"Still of the Night" is one of the more obscure entries in Meryl Streep's filmography, even though it came out in 1982 in between two of her greatest films, "The French Lieutenant's Woman" and "Sophie's Choice". (Until it turned up recently on British television I had never previously seen it or even heard of it). It is a psychological thriller, directed by Robert Benton who had earlier directed Meryl in "Kramer v Kramer". It has often been described as having been influenced by the works of Alfred Hitchcock, and one of the obvious signs of this influence is the fact that the main character, like the heroine of "Spellbound", is a psychiatrist. (Hitchcock was fascinated by psychology and psychiatry, and often makes reference to them in his films).

Another Hitchcock touch is the idea of the "man in the street" who suddenly finds himself in trouble or in danger. When one of his patients is murdered Dr Sam Rice, a Manhattan psychiatrist, finds himself becoming emotionally involved with a young woman named Brooke Reynolds, who was not only a colleague of the dead man but also his mistress, and who is also a suspect in his murder. The plot is a complex one, involving Rice falling under suspicion with the police, who believe that he may be withholding evidence about the killing, and his placing himself in danger by his own attempts to solve the crime.

The film makes quite deliberate reference to a number of Hitchcock films. Besides the general psychiatric theme, there is also a dream sequence reminiscent of the one in "Spellbound". The appearance of a bird during this sequence is a reference to "The Birds" and possibly also to "Psycho", where Norman's hobby is stuffing birds. A fall from a bell tower recalls "Vertigo" and, as in "North by North West", there is a scene set in an auction room. (The murdered man, George Bynum, was a senior employee of an auction house). There are also scenes reminiscent of "Rear Window" and "Marnie". Jessica Tandy who plays Rice's mother (also a psychiatrist) appeared in "The Birds". Many of Hitchcock's films, including "Notorious", "Strangers on a Train" and "Psycho", feature a strong, dominant mother-figure.

Perhaps the most effective Hitchcock touch is the use of a trademark blonde heroine. Although this is far from being one of Meryl Streep's greatest films, she nevertheless gives a very accomplished performance as Brooke, portraying a woman who is clearly disturbed and frightened and who might just also be a psychopath, while leaving (as the conventions of the thriller genre require) that second point open to doubt. Had Meryl been twenty years older, she might have become one of the Master's great muses, along with the likes of Ingrid Bergman and Grace Kelly.

And yet any number of Hitchcock references do not in themselves make a Hitchcock film. "Still of the Night" falls along way short of the great man at his best, or even at his second-best. Roy Scheider does not make a very charismatic hero and, except perhaps in the final sequences, Benton never succeeds in generating the sort of nail-biting tension that Hitchcock was so skilled at conjuring up, even in some of his lesser films. Whereas Hitchcock could normally relieve that tension with some effective use of humour, "Still of the Night" is a pedestrian and humourless film, no more than an average eighties thriller. 5/10, largely for Streep's performance.

Dr. Sam Rice (Roy Scheider) is a Manhattan psychiatrist like his mother Grace (Jessica Tandy). He's recently divorced. One of his patients George Bynum has been killed. He is visited by the mysterious Brooke Reynolds (Meryl Streep) who worked with Bynum at the auction house Crispin's. She's also Bynum's mistress. They are interrupted by Detective Vitucci and she accidentally leaves behind a watch. Dr. Rice examines his files on Bynum and suspicions falls on Reynolds.

I really like the Hitchcockian touches. I love the laundry room when the lights go out in the hallway. I did not like all the flashback re-examination of his files. The plot loses its way a bit and some of its tension. Meryl Streep is pretty good as the mysterious damsel-in-distress. Although she's not the classic sex bombshell. Scheider is still a good leading man. This could be a much better mystery thriller.

I think that writer/director Robert Benton was trying to make this movie akin to something Alfred Hitchcock would have made, but "Still of the Night" doesn't work as an homage or even a regular thriller. There is a real aloof feeling to this movie throughout - you don't really get a sense that any of the characters are those that are real flesh and blood. Roy Scheider was a talented actor, and Meryl Streep certain is, but even they seem overwhelmed by the depressing atmosphere and can't add much life. The main problem with the movie, however, is that it is extremely slow and boring. There are no shocks and there isn't even any real tension at any point. This extends even to the music score - there's almost no music in the entire movie. And it's extremely easy to figure out who the killer is, since the movie doesn't exactly give us a long list of suspects. Movies like this gathered dust in video stores for good reasons.

(Minor Spoilers) Director Robert Benton borrows from at least seven Alfred Hitchcock films: Spellbound (1945) Rear Window (1954) Vertigo (1958)North by Northwest (1959) Psycho (1960) The Birds (1963) and Marnie (1964) and comes up with a pretty fair Hitchcockian thriller of his own in "Still of the Night".

The film centers on Brooke Reynolds, Meryl Streep, an antique dealer at the Crispin Antique & Auction House in New York City. Brooke's fellow dealer and lover George Bynum, Josef Sommer, was found murdered the night before and he was a patient of Dr. Sam Rice, Roy Scheider, his psychiatrist who she went to see to give him a watch that George left in her apartment.

Brooke wants Dr. Rice to give the watch back to George's wife in order for her not to find out that she was having an affair with him. Dr. Rice agrees to return it to Mrs. Bynum but can't get over the alluring and beautiful Brooke and slowly falls in love with her which gets him involved with his dead patient and Brooke's lover George. Dr. Rice is trying to get over an failed marriage himself and Brooke coming into his life at this important time seems to be just the right medicine for him but it's the baggage that she carries with her, her lovers murder, that puts him in danger as well as Brooke herself.

"Still of the Night" is a very stylish thriller with almost no action at all until the final scene and thats what makes the movie work. Roy Scheider is perfect as the meek and troubled psychiatrist Dr. Sam Rice who takes it upon himself to solve his patients murder as he falls in love with Brooke who may have had something to do with it.

The usually two-fisted and tough Roy Scheider is very good as the withdrawn and inoffensive Dr. Sam Rice who's driven to solve George's murder in order to clear Brooke from being blamed for it which seems to be what's being made to happen by George's killer. Dr. Rice is also somewhat of a mama's boy with his psychiatrist mom Grace, Jessica Tandy, giving him advice on his breakup with his wife and the solving of George's murder.

There's a very good dream sequence in the movie "Still of the Night" much like the one in "Spellbound" that bring out what was really going on between George & Brooke as well as Brooke's dark secret that the killer somehow found out about and was using it to set up and implicate Brooke for George's murder.

Meryl Streep who's known more for being an excellent Academy Award winning actress then a beauty queen was never more beautiful as well as classy as Brooke Reynolds the mystery woman with a secret who knew much more then what she lead Dr. Rice to believe. Miss. Streep is such a turn-on in the film that even with all her clothes on she had more sex appeal then both Britney Spear and Madonna put together with their clothes off. In fact the only scene that Meryl Streep was nude had nothing to do with her affair with Dr. Rice but when he came to her apartment and was startled to find her getting a rub-down from her masseur Mr. Chang, Hyon Cho; WHAT A LUCKY GUY HE IS.

"Still of the Night" turned off a lot of movie viewers because of it's slow pace and lack of any steamy scenes between Dr. Rice and Brooke Reynolds as well as it's almost total lack of action until the very last minutes of the movie. But it substituted all that with a well thought out story and as for the lack of sex thats exactly what made the movie, or better yet Brooke Reynold, so sexy. Brooke was so gorgeous that she came across as being almost untouchable and rightly so. A woman as attractive as her should only be looked upon with awe and admiration and not be manhandled; at least until the lights are turned off.

I almost turned this movie off in the middle because I was tired of being manipulated by the corny scary stuff that was overwrought and too dragged out. That stuff was okay for the master, Hitchcock, but today it has whiskers.

I was very surprised to see Meryl Streep looking more beautiful than ever before or since. It was the way her hairdo framed her face, I think. Any way, this movie was all Streep. Scheider has a certain gravitas which many Hollywood Idols never achieve even though they are far more popular. But Streep—from her first moment on screen I said to myself, I've never seen this side of her! She's created an entirely original person! Then she delivered a soliloquy toward the end of the movie which she fashioned with such skill and insight that one would think it was Shakespeare!

There is simply no one as good as Streep, man or woman. She turns this average movie into something worth watching.

I saw STILL OF THE NIGHT for the first since I saw it 20 years ago at the movies. Everything about it is top notch except for one thing: the script. There's really no story. It's one of the flimsiest stories I've ever seen for such a high caliber production. It's a shame because everything is so great: great cast (I couldn't keep my eyes off of Streep), great cinematography, some excellent direction here and there (the dream sequence is memorable). I just wished they wrote a great script to go along the other great aspects of the production.

But after watching it, I realized that we don't really see movies like STILL OF THE NIGHT anymore. They just don't make these kind of classy thrillers these days and watching SOTN sorta made me missed them. A lot!

Still of the Night jump-starts when a thief, casing parked cars on a Manhattan street one night, wrenches open a door and out tumbles a corpse. But then it slows down – way down. The dead man's mistress (Meryl Streep) shows up at the office of his psychiatrist (Roy Scheider) for reasons vague enough to pique his curiosity – and his suspicions. Scheider is robbed of his distinctive jacket in Central Park, then the mugger gets stabbed. The police grow more and more interested in Streep....

The slow menace that simmers through most of Robert Benton's movie is helped by Nestor Almendros' leached-out, dusky cinematography – all taupes and duns and greys. But when it comes time to bring the plot to a boil, there's no more fuel. Jessica Tandy as Scheider's mother, also a psychiatrist, vanishes halfway through, while the director lavishes his attention on a long scene at the posh auction house where Streep works, a sequence so tedious that it's an object lesson in how not to mount a set-piece.

By the time Steep, in close-up against the night sky, sings an interminable aria about her dead father while a desperate ending is being cobbled up off-stage, it's clear that nobody bothered to think the script through. Benton showed more talent in the lighter, quirkier The Late Show five years earlier. The portentousness – and pretentiousness – of Still of the Night grind it to a dead stop.

It seems inconceivable that Robert Benton should become a filmmaker without a sense of humor. His earlier screenplays co-written with David Newman, not to mention "The Late Show" (Benton's prickly, funny private-eye comedy from 1977), were filled with little bits of clever homage and dry wit. "Still of the Night" is just that: still. It's an old-fashioned murder mystery which follows the pattern of familiar noirs and thrillers from the past, but it fails without any personality from Benton or his actors. There's nothing tangible going on in Meryl Streep's performance as an auction-house employee in New York City whom everyone thinks is a killer; she's aloof and unreal, only connecting with the audience in the two or three instances where she cracks a smile. Roy Scheider plays a psychiatrist who may be marked for murder, and he falls for Streep's mystery woman despite the signs that she's unstable. The picture creaks and groans until the last act, where Benton suddenly livens up and brings the thing to a commendable conclusion. A talky, impersonal piece of work overall, and not worth the trouble except for Streep-completists. *1/2 from ****

I remember trying to get into this film in New York City on a Friday night, and it was sold out. IMDb doesn't list its box office, but I remember that it was quite popular. It was around the beginning of Meryl as Goddess - this was her 10th film and before "Sophie's Choice." The rest of the stars are Roy Scheider and Jessica Tandy. Scheider gets drawn into the murder of one of his patients after a visit from a mysterious woman (Streep) who worked with and had an affair with the victim. He goes back in his mind over some of his sessions with his patient, including a vivid dream, and finds himself living it.

If you know and love the big guy, Hitchcock, as much as I do, you'll enjoy this film just picking out all the Hitchcock touches. Others on this board have mentioned the cool blonde (Streep, looking gorgeous), the psychiatrist mother and the dream (Spellbound), a shot reminiscent of Rear Window, the presence of Jessica Tandy (The Birds), the ordinary man drawn into strange circumstances, the auction scene (North by Northwest), and of course, the Shadow of a Doubt reference - Scheider's Uncle Charlie.

"Still of the Night" is gimmicky, cold, and strangely memorable. Look at the various posts and see how many people remember where and when they saw it. Streep is excellent in her cool blonde role, though it's not a great part; however, her monologue toward the end of the film is very compelling. Scheider is just right as the psychiatrist, and Tandy is wonderful as his mother, though her role is too small.

Others mention that the film moves slowly until the end. The ending is very suspenseful and exciting, but I didn't feel the rest of the movie was slow - I felt like I was being set up for something. As it turned out, I was.

Recommended for lovers of Hitchcock and those who have not seen much early Streep.

OK, so it's no Vertigo, but I enjoyed this homage to the Hitchcock genre.

Multiple references to Hitchcock's work. Some are obvious (a blonde, a suspenseful auction) some enjoyably less so (a stuffed bird, and the house that is in Glen Cove). It's fun to pick them out.

An atmospheric and suspenseful story, which holds interest. Streep is beautiful and plays the brittleness of her character very well I thought. Scheider is his usual dependable self.

Overall, I think a tad underrated and well worth a spare ninety minutes.

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.

Convoluted suspenser that showcases both Scheider and Streep. It's not a flick to tune in and out of. The plot's tricky, with a number of flashbacks that got somewhat confusing for me. Anyway, Scheider's an emotionally detached psychiatrist who's slowly unwound by the mysterious Streep as he delves further into the stabbing death of her lover and his former patient, Bynum. Scheider's convincing as Dr. Rice whose emotions are hidden behind a professional demeanor. Doing that meaningfully, as Scheider does, strikes me as challenging for any actor. Meanwhile, Streep also scores as the emotionally troubled Brooke, who appears the obvious culprit in Bynum's murder. Crucially, however, it's hard to tell what's going on behind that unstable outer woman. Together, the two characters are little short of riveting as they interact in ambivalent fashion. Also look for renowned actress Jessica Tandy as Rice's sober-sided mother in what appears a tacked-on role that's nevertheless well played.

Though the screenplay's murky, perhaps appropriately so, there're a number of grabber scenes, like the dream sequence with the sinister little girl or Rice's walk into Central Park. However, the climax appears clumsily contrived in order to get a conventional ending. Too bad, since the movie's mood and well-placed ambiguities deserve better. All in all, it's an intriguing movie that remains a testament to its two leads.

This intriguing movie packs thriller , tension , suspense, romance , unlimited excitement and plot twists . Sam Rice (Roy Scheider) , a Manhattan psychiatrist probes a patient's murder and soon afterward falls for the victim's mysterious mistress . Dr. Rice is visited by George Bynum (Joseph Sommer)'s co-worker and mistress Brooke Reynolds (Meryl Streep) with increasingly suspicious behavior . Later on , there comes the investigating officer Detective Vitucci (Joe Grifasi) dealing with the rare events . As Dr. Rice reviews the case notes on his sessions with Bynum and he suspects that Brooke may or may not the murderer . At the same time , Sam investigates the mysterious deeds and he puts his own life in risk .

This Hitchcock-style mystery/thriller contains suspense , tension , chills and continuous intrigue . The picture promises much but fails its objectives . It's suspenseful but often the mysterious elements have not quite gelled . There's also an exciting and intriguing dream sequence in which results to be resolved the killing similarly to ¨Spellbound¨ by Alfred Hitchcock . Roy Scheider gives good performance as a psychiatrist who starts his own investigation about a murder and falling in love for enigmatic blonde Brooke excellently acted by Meryl Streep . After her greatest hit ¨Kramer vs Kramer¨ that pushed Meryl's career forward , she was impressed enough to work again with Benton and played this ¨Still of the night¨ , however , it resulted to be a flop . Stylish cinematography by a magnificent cameraman , the Spanish Nestor Almendros , Benton's usual and full of lights and darks .

The motion picture is professionally directed by Robert Benton but without originally and this flick turns out to be thinly spread . Texas director has a varied career as he was an editor of magazine , production designer , set decorator and has written a number of imaginative stories for children . He realized few movies even accounting for those in whose screenplays he wrote as ¨Bonnie and Clyde¨ , ¨There was a crooked man¨ , ¨What's up doc ?¨ , ¨Superman¨ and even ¨Still of the night¨ . His big hit as director was the weepie ¨Kramer vs Kramer¨ and won him the Oscar for writing and direction , the next was warm-hearted ¨Places in the heart¨ with basic human values and revealed his softer side . Following filmmaking the underrated ¨Nadine¨ , a comic-strip comedy with Jeff Bridges and Kim Basinger . After that , he directed a gangster movie ¨Billy Bathgate¨ with Nicole Kidman and Dustin Hoffman , ¨Nobody's fool¨ which won Paul Newman an Academy Award nomination and he worked again with Benton four years later on ¨Twilight¨ . ¨Still of the night¨ was a failure and turned out to be a flop at the box office . Rating : Average , 5,5 . Only for Meryl Streep fans .

I watched this when I was 3-5 years old in the early 90s when my grandparents would babysit me. It's funny how their collection of movies I still love & watch today! It's also weird how a little girl of 3 years of age would rather watch movies that a 3 year old shouldn't actually be watching. For example this film, or Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, Gone with the Wind, & etc... If your a parent of a toddler, honestly would you allow them to watch this? Or better yet, would your toddler or any other 3 yr old you know would sit through this movie from start to finish & re-watch again? But anyways, this movie in a couple scenes used to scare me when I was little. The dream that guy told his shrink & when the shrink was doing his laundry. & Meryl Streep in this movie was different compared to most of her resume. Quite, shy, delicate, & her voice was soft & low & unfortunately we see a little more of Meryl than usual. But it's a good film & highly recommend you watch it!

A patient of psychiatrist Sam Rice (Roy Scheider) has been murdered. A mysterious woman, Brooke Reynolds (Meryl Streep), was his lover. Rice meets her and begins to fall in love. But he starts to suspect that she killed his patient...and he's next on the list.

I saw this in a theatre in 1982. For some stupid reason MGM/UA chose to release this quiet, small thriller during the Christmas season! It was clobbered by the critics and audiences stayed away (the theatre I saw it in was almost empty).

I remember not liking it but I didn't hate it. The film has definite problems. It's WAY too quiet, too dark (almost every scene takes place at night) and totally lacks the edge a good nasty thriller should have--everything is so perfect and nice. Also the plot has HUGE loopholes (I love how the police just kept making assumptions and just believe it's true). Scheider (a good actor) is too straight-faced in his role and Streep's little mannerisms (hands always moving, CONSTANTLY playing with her hair) made me want to strike her. Jessica Tandy is good but she's only in two scenes.

Still the film is well-directed, has a number of eerie scenes (especially the one with Scheider alone in a deserted laundry room) and does move quickly.

But it's too quiet for its own good and the plot needs work. I give it a 6.

What begins as a standard, interesting mystery-thriller is ultimately ruined by an abrupt, laughably arbitrary ending. The film tries to be Hitchcockian, with an auction sequence that resembles a similar set piece in "North By Northwest", but in the last 10 minutes the script really goes to hell. Good performance by Scheider, but Meryl Streep never quite manages to be totally convincing; it's all-too-clearly a "performance". (**)

This film has received quite a few negative posts. I also read Leonard Maltin's review, in which he said that it was full of holes and was a weak Hitchcock homage. I really think people are all wrong about this one; it's full of some very good old-fashioned suspense, and I love all of the Hitch touches many here have already noted. As well, it must be recalled that Hitch dealt in many implausibilities in his films. He hated those who constantly pointed out that "that could never happen in real life." It's not real life, it's a movie! That's one of the ways I thought this film succeeded, was in reflecting (or even gently parodying) Hitch's use of things that would never happen in real life. Loved the chemistry between Meryl and Roy, not to mention the lovely mentor/parent shrink/shrink relationship between Roy and Jessica. Nice work from Robert Benton. I love this film. --Matthew Hays

If director Robert Benton thinks this whodunnit is supposed to be an homage to Alfred Hitchcock, he'd better think again. It's closer to William Castle! Benton comes nowhere close to the subtle, nail-biting tension Hitch provided in his heyday. Where's the inventive camera style? The exciting, pervasive musical score? Where's the finesse?. Roy Scheider plays a psychiatrist who is drawn to a shady lady who might have murdered one of his own patients.

Improbable and tedious to no end, it features an OK Roy Scheider but Meryl Streep gives the most annoying, neurotic, unfocused performance of her otherwise luminous career. Just count how many times she plays, brushes away or toys with her hair. That's her acting style here. More Geraldine Page than Grace Kelly. The rest of the cast...oh, who cares?

Proceed at your own risk.