To Catch A Thief - review

Strange to think that Alfred Hitchcock is one of my all-time favourite directors yet I had never seen To Catch A Thief in all its Vistavision glory before but that glaring omission was rectified thanks to the recent re-release from Park Circus.

Hitchcock's tale of sun, sea, seduction and stolen jewels on the French Riviera is enough to banish every memory of the last time I saw "Grace Kelly" in France in the awful Grace Of Monaco.

Grace Kelly simply shines as the daughter and heiress of a target for the cat burglar that Cary Grant's smooth former thief is trying to catch in order to clear his name.

Hitchcock has always been more recognised for his darker films such as Psycho and Vertigo but they always had a sense of humour (however black) and this is "Hitch" at his most light and playful.

The chemistry between Grant and Kelly is simply delightful and their flirtatious wit and dialogue sparkles more than any diamond "the cat" might steal.

4 stars

Grace of Monaco - review

Grace Of Monaco lacks exactly that... grace.

It fails to deliver what one of the most beautiful stars that ever graced the silver screen had in abundance: Grace, beauty and elegance.

This film is so heavy-handed in its execution, it feels like it was made with boxing gloves.

Whether it is the overly-dramatic score that ramps up emotion or a sense of danger that simply isn't there, a camera that seems fixated on Kidman's eyes with many scenes consisting solely of Wayne's World-style "extreme close ups" and an unintentionally hilarious training montage where Derek Jacobi holds up cards with feelings written on them that Kidman has to express.

We get cards that read "Anger", "Trust", "Regret" yet the resulting expressions only reminded me of Derek Zoolander's various "range" of looks like Blue Steel, Ferrari and Le Tigre.

The final nail in the coffin has to be Grace Kelly's big moment at the end of the film where she finally delivers on her promise and duties after transferring from High Society to high society by giving a speech about how living in Monaco is like a fairy tale and please don't destroy our fairy tale by making us have to pay tax.

Given the current economic climate and the news stories about Amazon, Starbucks and Gary Barlow, I'm sure this will have the exact opposite effect that the movie had planned.

Somebody had better Dial M for Murder because Olivier Dahan has just killed the Princess of Monaco in a biopic that is as big a car crash as Diana that proves once and for all that Australia actresses shouldn't play royalty.

1 star