STRANGERS ON A TRAIN-1951-2 STARS

In my eyes, this isn’t Hitchcock’s best, even though some may disagree, but who cares what they think? This is supposed to be a thriller, but what’s so thrilling about it? Two complete strangers meet on a train. Guy (Farley Granger), a nice looking, famous tennis star. First of all, why is he a tennis star? Why can’t he be someone more exciting like a novelist, a rock star, or a nightwatchman at a garbage dump?

So Guy is sitting there, minding his own business, when rich mama’s boy Bruno (Robert Walker) shows up and starts asking intrusive questions. Guy is having martial problems at the moment, so Bruno exploits this, and offers a solution. He will kill Guy’s wife, so that he can run off with the Senator’s daughter, and in return, Guy will kill Bruno’s dad.

Bruno thinks this is a great setup because the two of them hardly know each other, so no one would get suspicious, and they can plan their alibi, so they’d be in the clear. Guy, like any normal human being just laughed it off, until his wife ends up dead, thanks to Bruno. Now before you start to feel sorry for the wife, don’t. She’s looks like a dumpy retard, and she’s a player. Yes, play as much as you want, but not when you’re married! Not only that, but she’s pregnant, with another guy’s baby! Actually, this is as thrilling as the movie gets.

Her murder wasn’t even all that exciting either, no gunshot to the head, no stabbing, and no caving her skull in (which she would have deserved). In fact, you really don’t get to witness the killing, all you see is Bruno doing something to her in the dark (probably a strangling), and that’s it. Wait, there is something I don’t get. This chick was ugly as hell, and you mean to tell me she had all these guys, AND a gorgeous husband on top of that?

Bruno is kind of screwed up, but doesn’t come close to being a Norman Bates. I just see him as being a nosy, extremely eccentric, nothing-better-to-do-but-cause-trouble dude. Yes, Bruno is kind of a schizoid, but he’s no one to be afraid of. If he would have came up in my face, I would have slapped his ass to the ground, and kept on walking.

Towards the end of the movie, we actually get rewarded by having a chance to watch a few tennis matches. Huh? Who in the hell would be interested in watching two people hit a ball back and forth in a movie that’s supposed to keep you on the edge of your seat? Now the movie had a happy ending, Bruno dies, and Guy is off the hook as a suspect in his wife’s murder. In fact, he never entertained the idea of killing Bruno’s dad, but maybe the movie would have been better if he did.

This entry was posted on 26. April 2008 at 00:56 and is filed under Hitchcock Classics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site.

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