X
- 1971
- R
- Universal Pictures
- 1 h 42 m
- 1971
- R
- Universal Pictures
- 1 h 42 m
Summary A brief fling between a male disc jockey and an obsessed female fan takes a frightening, and perhaps even deadly turn when another woman enters the picture.
Directed By: Clint Eastwood
Written By: Jo Heims, Dean Riesner
- 1971
- R
- Universal Pictures
- 1 h 42 m
- 1971
- R
- Universal Pictures
- 1 h 42 m
Play Misty for Me
78
7.5
Where to Watch
Summary A brief fling between a male disc jockey and an obsessed female fan takes a frightening, and perhaps even deadly turn when another woman enters the picture.
Directed By: Clint Eastwood
Written By: Jo Heims, Dean Riesner
Where to Watch
Top Cast
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 9 Critic Reviews
78
89% Positive
8 Reviews
8 Reviews
11% Mixed
1 Review
1 Review
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 9 Critic Reviews
78
89% Positive
8 Reviews
8 Reviews
11% Mixed
1 Review
1 Review
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Play Misty for Me is not the artistic equal of Psycho (1960), but in the business of collecting an audience into the palm of its hand and then squeezing hard, it is supreme. It doesn't depend on a lot of surprises to maintain the suspense. There ARE some surprises, sure, but mostly the film's terror comes from the fact that the strange woman is capable of anything.
Eastwood didn’t overreach with Play Misty For Me. It’s a tense thriller that’s inside his comfort zone in more ways than one. But he does overdeliver in the best way. Co-star Jessica Walter plays an obsessed fan, and Eastwood wrings every ounce of tension from a scenario in which a casual affair turns into a life-threatening mistake, and the film executes a potentially trashy scenario with respect for its audience.
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 21 User Ratings
7.5
76% Positive
16 Ratings
16 Ratings
24% Mixed
5 Ratings
5 Ratings
0% Negative
0 Ratings
0 Ratings
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 21 User Ratings
7.5
76% Positive
16 Ratings
16 Ratings
24% Mixed
5 Ratings
5 Ratings
0% Negative
0 Ratings
0 Ratings
Play Misty For Me is a 1971 drama thriller directed by and also starring Clint Eastwood and he shows the metal **** director here. The story is the same premise or similar to that of Fatal Attraction made in 1987 however Play Misty For Me came out before Fatal Attraction was even made so I wouldn't be shocked or surprised if Fatal Attraction copied the idea from this film. Both films are flawless with no faults and are excellent and Play Misty For Me is never boring because there's always some suspense and excitement and great acting especially from the lunatic actress. Clint Eastwood also gives a perfect acted performance and shows us why he's one of the best actors in the world!!! Excellent film.
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Play Misty For Me is about Dave who's played by the man himself (Clint Eastwood) who works at KRML radio on the nights and he keeps getting requests from a young woman called Evelyn (Jessica Walter) to play her favourite song. Also, Dave doesn't know anything about this woman all he knows is she's requesting a song and she's started to flirt with him and he's wanting to meet her in person. Dave and Evelyn finally meet each other in a bar surprisingly and he later realizes what she's really like and I must say Jessica Walter did such a great job on well playing a psychopath throughout this movie. Finally, I've got to say there's some really unexpected moments throughout this movie which work quite well and Clint Eastwood's character is a badass from start to finish. Overall, the movie's got a great plot about this psychopathic woman coming into Dave's life and trying to ruin it for him. Also, there's some great action scenes throughout and this is quite a small thing but I really liked the clothing choices for the characters I honestly thought they went well with the year it's set in. Anyways, it's a great movie about a psychopathic woman trying to ruin Clint's life and he's got to think of a way to sort things out with her. I really enjoyed this movie from start to finish and I'm not going to say anymore about this film because I'll end up spoiling it but anyways, it's honestly worth the watch.
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When it’s not serving as an overdone travelog for the Monterey Peninsula-Carmel home environment of star, producer and debuting director Clint Eastwood, Play Misty for Me is an often fascinating suspenser about psychotic Jessica Walter, whose deranged infatuation for Eastwood leads her to commit murder. For that 80% of the film which constitutes the story, the structure and dialog create a mood of nervous terror which the other 20% nearly blows away.
Eastwood's first film as director, and first exploratory probe for the flaws in his macho image as outlined in Siegel's The Beguiled. A highly enjoyable thriller made under the influence of Siegel (who contributes a memorable cameo as a bartender).
On an informal Richter scale of movie terror, Play Misty for Me registers a few gasps, some frissons and at least one spleen-shaking shudder. A good little scare show, in other words, despite various gaps in logic and probability.
It is not simply that the movie fails to make sense. A lot of good movies are weak on sense—though they don't often require a leading man to be quite so dense for quite so long in interpreting the behavior of a psychotic leading woman. But they must not be weak in sensibility, in that logic of emotional response that is the real motive power of the atmospheric thriller.
Not convinced it's necessarily a great film per se, but 'Play Misty for Me' really does a very good at unsettling the viewer!
Jessica Walter is the sole reason for that. As good as Clint Eastwood is, as he makes his directorial debut, Walter gives a superb performance as the unnerving Evelyn **** - one that'll live in the memory, for sure. Elsewhere on the cast, it's neat to see Don Siegel - one of Eastwood's long time collaborators - make a cameo.
I have some minor remarks about this, like the editing is a tad iffy in parts, but all in all nothing important. I'd recommend this, to put it simply.
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[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]
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With this directorial debut from Clint Eastwood, we have a film that accidentally ends up being a kind of surprisingly emblematic microcosm of the filmography that would continue beyond it - at least in my eyes. Like a large portion of Eastwood films, "Play Misty For Me" is not perfect. Often operating at a gentle simmer rather than a rolling boil, it takes its time to build its suspense and tension, often sacrificing the viewer's attention here and there. But when it's on it's really on, especially with some of the more intense scenes and the film's truly hilarious (in the best way) conclusion. Also there's a lot of jazz. So, yeah. Definitely an Eastwood film. Overall, though, it's definitely worth a watch. Not just if you're an Eastwood fan, but if you're a fan of thrillers or the "psychotic ex-lover" subgenre, which this movie is kind of an nifty prototype of.
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