Someone to Watch Over Me (1987) July 15, 2007
Posted by jackal in : Films , trackbackRight from its opening moments, with the camera sweeping majestically across Manhattan while a beautiful rendition by Sting of the classic title song plays over the credits, Someone to Watch Over Me is as effortlessly cool and jazzy as can be.
I’ve always been a fan of Ridley Scott, but as a youngster this film seemed, quite honestly, dull. I think it was the very 80s appearance of the film (hair, fashions, etc.), and the fact that it’s less a thriller, more a romance with a thriller subplot. Watching it again recently, it was almost like a different movie to the one I remembered. The focus on the romance in the story worked extremely well for me this time, simply because it’s so engagingly portrayed. Scott gets the initial trigger for the plot (Mimi Rogers’ wealthy Manhattan socialite witnesses a murder backstage at a party) out of the way in a short but thrilling sequence within the first ten minutes. It’s a premise familiar from The Narrow Margin and other thrillers, and there’s no attempt at anything particularly original here. The thriller aspect is strictly routine, necessary only to set up the slow burning romance which develops between Rogers and the happily married detective (Tom Berenger) assigned to protect her until the killer is found.
The obvious construction of the romance - he’s a blue-collar cop from Queens; she’s a privileged heiress with her own chauffeur - is nonetheless entirely beliveable. Scott’s vision of Manhattan is warm, opulent and inherently glamorous, beautifully photographed as always; when Keegan finishes a shift, we cut straight to him trudging home on the subway to his working class neighbourhood. Scott combines his trademark visuals with a striking use of music to great effect, most noticeably during Berenger’s first visit to Rogers’ apartment. While the camera follows him in grand sweeps as he marvels at the scale of his surroundings, Vivaldi’s “Gloria” plays on the soundtrack, perfectly underscoring the character’s reactions. Classical music is used throughout the scenes in Rogers’ apartment, creating an inviting atmosphere, a refuge for Keegan and amplifying the movie’s relaxed, mellow pace.
The action/thriller element is held back so that when it does come, its impact is only heightened. In the film’s best sequence, the threat to Rogers finally reaches her apartment itself, and in a tense, well-staged set-piece, it’s Keegan’s new-found familiarity with his environment that gives him the edge over the killer.
Crucially, though, it’s the performances that sell the story. Rogers delivers strongly in a role requiring a mixture of strength and inner vulnerability. Berenger, meanwhile, is truly excellent. In Detective Mike Keegan he creates a rounded, flawed hero, whose every move rings true: from his first unsure, embarrassed meeting with his witness, through to their eventual affair and its consequences, Berenger charts his character’s emotional journey with skill, his motivations always well-defined. Seeing a performance like this underlines how unfortunate it is that Berenger now finds himself stuck in DTV hell, a thoroughly undeserving fate.
Lorraine Bracco, years before The Sopranos would bring her wider recognition, gives fine support in the somewhat thankless role of Keegan’s wife. Andreas Katsulas is perfectly cast as the ruthless killer, and it’s surely his performance here which landed him the role of the ‘one-armed man’ in the excellent big screen remake of The Fugitive.
The only false note in the film is the climax. Up to this point the story has existed in a beliveable world, with character behaviour grounded in reality, but it does sadly go a little off the rails for a typically OTT Hollywood finish. It didn’t ruin the movie for me at all, though, and it does recover for a nice, understated ending that falls somewhere between happy and downbeat. This is, in my new opinion, an excellent, very stylish romantic thriller, and unfortunately somewhat underappreciated.
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