Bedroom Window, The

After leaving his boss's company party, Terry (Steve Guttenberg) awaitsanxiously for Sylvia (Isabella Huppert), his boss's wife, who finally givesin to Terry and meets him at his apartment. Sylvia is attracted to Terry'skindness, determination, devotion and aim-to-please attitude. Sylvia likesbeing desired and wanted passionately by someone like Terry, a man who willtake her in and admire her. Sylvia's husband, Colin (Paul Shenar), is arich and powerful man who has been lacking in keeping Sylvia's heart afire,but she would never leave her stuffy, comfortable, well-to-do lifestylewith Colin, even for Terry.

Terry is just a sweet piece of candy to enjoy now and then -- lousy forTerry, for he is becoming emotionally attached to this very classy andsophisticated lady. After Terry excuses himself to use the bathroom, Sylviahears screaming outside the bedroom window moments later. As Sylviaapproaches the window, she sees a man attacking a woman. Sylvia yells forTerry, but he cannot hear her. She struggles to open the window and finallypushes it open, startling the man and causing him to run off and leave thefrightened woman screaming on the sidewalk as help approaches. Sylvia isupset by what she saw and, after realizing how late it is, decides it'sbest to go home to her husband and put the horrible ordeal behind her.This is not as easy for Terry to put behind him when he reads in the paperthe next morning that a young woman was murdered only a short time anddistance away from the attack Sylvia witnessed.

After convicing Sylvia that her name will not be divulged, Terry makes aphone call to the police, saying he was the one who witnessed the attack.When the police insist on questioning the witness, Sylvia decribes thedetails of the assailant to Terry. Officers Quirke (Carl Lumbly) and Jessup(Frederick Coffin) show up at Terry's apartment and are very impressed withhis eye for detail. After Terry's statement, Quirke and Jessup stronglyfeel that they know the man who has been assulting woman recently in thearea. When the police ask Terry to come into the station, Terry assumesthat it is to confirm his recent statement. Not true, Terry is there topick out the assailant from a police line-up and he is not the only one todo so. Denise (Elizabeth McGovern), the woman who Terry allegedly saved, isthere as well. Terry can't make a positive ID and the police who feltcertain they had their killer had to release the alleged assailant, a manby the name of Henderson (Brad Greenquist).

Frustrated by knowing Henderson is the man killing these women, but unableto prove it, Terry decides to follow Henderson to a local bar. The bar ispretty packed and there is some excitment over a girl dancingprovocatively. Terry notices Henderson watching the young woman. Terryloses sight of Henderson when a waitress spills a beer on him. Later inthe evening after leaving the bar, Terry sees a crowd of people standingoutside with police in the background. Terry learns that a woman has beenmurdered. As the police take the woman away, her arm slips out from theplastic covering her body. Her arm has gold bracelets on it and her hair isblonde -- just like the woman he saw Henderson watching in the bar.

Terry goes to the police with what he has discovered, hoping it will helpput Henderson away. Terry's problems only get worse as he is summoned toappear in court as the key witness in the assault case of Denise. Sylvia isstill unwilling to step forward with the truth, so she decides to coachTerry in the courtroom. All goes well with Terry's statement and he thinkshe just walked down easy street until it's time for Henderson's attorney(Wallace Shawn) to cross examine Terry. Denise notices Sylvia givinginformation to Terry as he struggles with some questions. Terry'scredibility is devoured on the witness stand with evidence proving Terry isnearsighted, thus making him unable to pass the simple eye test planned byHenderson's attorney. Denise is not the only one who saw Sylvia coachingTerry in the courtroom. Henderson now knows Sylvia is the real witness.

The case is thrown out and the police now have a new suspect...Terry!Sylvia has now confessed to Colin that she slept with Terry once, nowtaking herself out of the picture and Terry is unable to rely on her help.Terry, with Denise's help, works on a way to clear his name and implicatethe real killer...Henderson. There are some groovy tunes comfortably spacedthroughout the movie, especially in the bar scenes. A classic is playedwhile Denise is undercover playing pool with some undesirables while tryingto get the attention of Henderson (you'll know what I mean if you have seenthe movie, if you haven't, it is worth the watch)!

The music is the trigger that awakens the sickness in Henderson. There is alot of personality to this movie on a visual level. The attractiveness andseediness of the city is dressed with natural-looking elements of cascadingrain, sun-soaked views of mellow-colored old buildings, bright, loud colorsof the night's lime light, and creepy lit, and dirty-looking streetcorners. I higly recommend The Bedroom Window. It is a slick, intelligent,well-crafted movie that's jam packed with intrigue, suspense, and a castplayed with tremendous talent all leading up to a spine-tingling finale!