There is no doubt that Someone to Watch Over Me is a smoothly paced and extremely well made film. It is directed by Ridley Scott after all. There is also no doubt that the cast is fully capable and gets into their roles with a much needed grit and determination. Sadly, there is also no doubt as to just how unmemorable the film is. Here you have Scott genre hopping once again, with a story that has potential if told right and a talented cast that lend an air of believability to the cop genre when it is usually so overblown. Therefore it is so striking to me that so little of the film stays with you. It's almost as if those involved where intrigued by the premise but simply grew weary and bored the longer they were involved.
Said premise is effectively that family man cop Mike is assigned to protect wealthy socialite Claire after she witness a murder and the mobster who did it vows to come after her. The problem here is that you know exactly where this story is going and if you think there's going to be any twists or changes to the formula then you are sadly mistaken. Mike's wife seems trusting at first and Claire seems to appreciate how much he cares for his family. Yet after some encounters bring them closer they become more attracted to each other and Mike's wife begins to become suspicious. It's a shame that so little comes of this. Mike's wife and Claire have almost no contact so we don't get any feisty scenes or morality questioning ones.
Then you have the romance and it just doesn't work. Most of that comes from the fact that the actors have zero chemistry together. Though it's not that their performances are bad. Tom Berenger is one of the few serious actors of the time who could convincingly play a tough cop and Mimi Rogers does her best at giving Claire a gentle, attractive personality. The romance itself is just on autopilot throughout. They have a few close calls, he gets more protective and their suddenly head over heels. To the film's credit it is done with subtlety and isn't completely rushed, but for it to work you really must believe that these two characters are genuinely in love with each other and I never got a sense of that.
Lorraine Bracco performance as Mike's wife Ellie is one of the films best features. She brings a much needed liveliness and aggression to the film, as well as providing the dialogue with the punch it calls for. The character is believable as a wife who has stuck by her husband through thick and thin, whilst her more grounded beauty is a nice contrast to high glamour of Claire. I also think the scenes Berenger and Bracco share are always engaging and well-acted.
There is a distinct lack of danger and intensity throughout the film that is really noticeable. There is a sort of shoot-out at Claire's apartment that lacks any sense of threat and the would-be assassin looks very similar to Berenger, almost to the point where you can't tell who is who. The villain of the piece is so one-note, uninteresting and underdeveloped that he's barely worth a mention. While the climax certainly gets across that the stakes are high, it's a boring situation and one that is entirely predictable.
Scott's visual flair is evident throughout the film. Its warm atmosphere and subdued lighting scheme fit the image of New York it creates. The opening credits sequence, featuring Sting's title track, floats over New York at night and it is a beautiful way to open the film. In a way the film restricts Scott somewhat and it's a shame that the films grittiness limits his eye here, even if he does make the best of what he has. Michael Kamen's score is appropriately subdued and ambient, suitably lurking in the background instead of jumping out at you. Questions have to be asked over the sets however, with Claire's apartment appearing to be never ending.
In reflecting on the film, Someone to Watch Over Me becomes something curious. A film that is clearly well made and directed, but one that is mostly unengaging and leaves very little impact when it's finished. It sticks rigidly to a well-worn formula when it should attempt something fresh. It tries to convey a convincing romance without any chemistry. It comes to the conclusion you knew it would from the moment the story was set in motion. There is no questions over Ridley Scott's ability, I just wish that he'd have attempted to go against the grain with a story like this. In a way it is a testament to Scott's expertise that he was able to make the film as watchable as it is.
Said premise is effectively that family man cop Mike is assigned to protect wealthy socialite Claire after she witness a murder and the mobster who did it vows to come after her. The problem here is that you know exactly where this story is going and if you think there's going to be any twists or changes to the formula then you are sadly mistaken. Mike's wife seems trusting at first and Claire seems to appreciate how much he cares for his family. Yet after some encounters bring them closer they become more attracted to each other and Mike's wife begins to become suspicious. It's a shame that so little comes of this. Mike's wife and Claire have almost no contact so we don't get any feisty scenes or morality questioning ones.
Then you have the romance and it just doesn't work. Most of that comes from the fact that the actors have zero chemistry together. Though it's not that their performances are bad. Tom Berenger is one of the few serious actors of the time who could convincingly play a tough cop and Mimi Rogers does her best at giving Claire a gentle, attractive personality. The romance itself is just on autopilot throughout. They have a few close calls, he gets more protective and their suddenly head over heels. To the film's credit it is done with subtlety and isn't completely rushed, but for it to work you really must believe that these two characters are genuinely in love with each other and I never got a sense of that.
Lorraine Bracco performance as Mike's wife Ellie is one of the films best features. She brings a much needed liveliness and aggression to the film, as well as providing the dialogue with the punch it calls for. The character is believable as a wife who has stuck by her husband through thick and thin, whilst her more grounded beauty is a nice contrast to high glamour of Claire. I also think the scenes Berenger and Bracco share are always engaging and well-acted.
There is a distinct lack of danger and intensity throughout the film that is really noticeable. There is a sort of shoot-out at Claire's apartment that lacks any sense of threat and the would-be assassin looks very similar to Berenger, almost to the point where you can't tell who is who. The villain of the piece is so one-note, uninteresting and underdeveloped that he's barely worth a mention. While the climax certainly gets across that the stakes are high, it's a boring situation and one that is entirely predictable.
Scott's visual flair is evident throughout the film. Its warm atmosphere and subdued lighting scheme fit the image of New York it creates. The opening credits sequence, featuring Sting's title track, floats over New York at night and it is a beautiful way to open the film. In a way the film restricts Scott somewhat and it's a shame that the films grittiness limits his eye here, even if he does make the best of what he has. Michael Kamen's score is appropriately subdued and ambient, suitably lurking in the background instead of jumping out at you. Questions have to be asked over the sets however, with Claire's apartment appearing to be never ending.
In reflecting on the film, Someone to Watch Over Me becomes something curious. A film that is clearly well made and directed, but one that is mostly unengaging and leaves very little impact when it's finished. It sticks rigidly to a well-worn formula when it should attempt something fresh. It tries to convey a convincing romance without any chemistry. It comes to the conclusion you knew it would from the moment the story was set in motion. There is no questions over Ridley Scott's ability, I just wish that he'd have attempted to go against the grain with a story like this. In a way it is a testament to Scott's expertise that he was able to make the film as watchable as it is.