Brainstorm

Women'll drive you nuts, man. Fun, goofy thriller aided by a nice unhinged performance by Jeffrey Hunter and a quiet panicky one by Anne Francis.

This feels a little pieced together from other thriller-noirs; perhaps that's why it has that ring of familiarity about it. Guy falls for boss's unhappy wife and plots the "perfect" murder plan. Is he going to keep his job? If not, how's he going to pay the expensive upkeep? And thus the somewhat predictable story tumbles to its inevitable conclusion. The cast was good and the camerawork during the shooting felt quite innovative, but there's just not enough otherwise to make this memorable.

Very much a B-movie noir with inconsistent performances and strong tonal split from the setup to the big turning point in the middle and the long drawn out conclusion. It's very silly in a lot of ways, but it's still kind of fun and even though the ending is really the only way this narrative can go it's executed very well.

"It's still the same thing: dissatisfaction with what is supposed to be The American Dream." http://illusionpodcast.blogspot.com/2014/05/episode-15.html

Has always been one of my favorite little movies. Have heard others say it treads very familiar ground--but the cast and crisp direction I think make it rise above that.