Another Clint Eastwood masterclass

Clint Eastwood stars as David Garver; radio DJ and ladies man. However, his philandering gets him into trouble one night when he picks a woman in a bar, a woman whom, unbeknown to him, is the same woman that has been phoning his radio show to ask him to 'play Misty for me'. It isn't long before Dave realises that there's something not quite right about this woman, but by then it's too late; he's already being plunged into every man's worst nightmare! Jessica Walter is absolutely superb as the smothering Evelyn Draper; she captures just the right mood for the obsessed woman; the scenes in particular that see Eastwood and Walter argue, with Walter ignoring everything he says are absolutely superb. Clint Eastwood is the quintessential leading man, and it's not hard to why he cast himself in the lead of this film. Eastwood's performances are always understated, and always dripping with testosterone, and this one is no different. His character here is a little more down to earth than what we're used to from Eastwood, but he plays the role well and it's good to see him in a less familiar sort of role. Eastwood is my favourite actor of all time, and I've never seen him in a film that isn't worth watching.

Clint Eastwood also directs this film. Eastwood is under appreciated as a director; he, obviously, has won acclaim for his masterpiece 'Unforgiven', but a lot of his other films such as this one, High Plains Drifter, his entry into the Dirty Harry series; Sudden Impact and more recently, Blood Work didn't receive the recognition that is rightfully theirs. In this film, Clint revs the tension up to the max and the viewer is almost constantly on the edge of their seat waiting for the next thing that the movie sees fit to throw at you. Unfortunately, the movie isn't able to keep it's thrilling pace up for the entire duration as it takes a pit stop mid way through for Clint to go to a rock show. This section of the film diffuses the tension that the movie has created for itself and thus shouldn't be in the film. I feared that the movie might go down the pan after this ill-advised section of the film, but I'm happy to report that the movie soon gets back on course for a thrilling and satisfying conclusion.

The music in the film is also superb. The title track, 'Misty' doesn't appear until the end, but the rest of the score is where the real musical artistry comes into play. The music for the film sets the tone of the movie just right, and the theme tune in particular is great; it's playful and easy to like and adds some fun into an otherwise dark thriller. Overall, Play Misty For Me is a very decent thriller. It's not a classic, but it's worth watching and it's a lot better than it's remake; Fatal Attraction.