Jazz DJ Dave Garvin (Clint Eastwood) sleeps with a woman he seemingly randomly meets in a nightclub. But unfortunately for him she turns out to be a psychopath who is textbook Cluster B and as we would say in Yorkshire a ‘wrong un’.
This film is cracking. It’s a stunning and, with hindsight, very realistic depiction of obsessional ‘love’ and stalking.
This film was a risk for Clint Eastwood and co. Not only was he depicting himself and in turn his movie image as vulnerable and a victim but also he was handing the reins over to Jessica Walters and her show-stealing performance as the unhinged Evelyn. And boy, what a performance it is! She is just as psychotic and disturbed as Andrew Robinson in Clint’s other film Dirty Harry.
This was also Clint’s first film as director and it showcases his brilliance behind the camera as well as in front of it.
There are several scenes in this film that are genuinely terrifying. Check out Evelyn’s attack on Dave’s cleaning lady. It’s actually painful to watch. Also look for Evelyn’s cameo at the end of the scene of Dave and his girlfriend as they decide to rekindle their relationship.
I also love how Eastwood’s films were politically incorrect decades before political correctness was even a thing. This film depicts a woman as the predator and aggressor when maybe nowadays it would be seen as unacceptable and going against prevailing media politics to depict a woman as possessing such qualities. Evelyn is depicted as a woman scorned and shown to be so much deadlier and calculating than her male counterpart.
5 out of 5 stars
meathookcinema.com 