Pacific Heights (1990)

Close to thirty years after it was made, "Pacific Heights" remains an entertaining thriller. Its lack of cell phones and computers is outweighed by a plot that still resonates today. The story has lots of twists and turns, some more outlandish than others, but they're what make the film so watchable and fun. Michael Keaton usually gets all the acclaim for his characterization of a mad sociopath, but Melanie Griffith (looking beautiful pre- plastic surgery) turns in an excellent leading performance as well. Matthew Modine's contribution is not to be overlooked (love his little kite factory). All the casting is on target, including Laurie Metcalf as a lawyer and Tippi Hedren as a socialite. What separates this film from others in the genre is John Schlesinger's astute direction. Schlesinger (who makes a cameo appearance in an elevator) wasn't known to direct many thrillers (Marathon Man) but his keen eye on human behavior (Midnight Cowboy, The Day of the Locust) elevates this film to a higher level.

Fmovies: What hurt my rating in this movie was that friend said "It was the scariest, most suspenseful film I've ever seen!" Well, I didn't find this to be the tense thriller she said.....or even close. Since I expected more, I was disappointed.

The only interesting character was the villain, "Carter Hayes," played nicely by Michael Keaton. The problem was he wasn't shown that much in the film. This movie needed more scenes with him in it, and less of the two other major characters: "Drake Goodman." (Matthew Modine) and "Patty Palmer" (Melanie Griffith).

This starts off promising, as if it's going to be very suspenseful. Maybe it was Modine's unlikable character that turned me. Whatever it didn't have the impact I was expecting. Overall: disappointing.

This is a carefully programmed yuppie nightmare, something to titillate the emotions betwixt the sushi and the creme de mint, something to remind the upwardly mobile that you have to keep your guard up at all times because there are animals out there waiting to take it all away from you.

Clever plot premise: Yuppie couple, stylishly unmarried, possibly for tax purposes, buy a painted lady in the Pacific Heights district of San Francisco, a Victorian fixer upper for $750,000. It's the 1980's and everybody is getting rich in California real estate. They are now in yuppie heaven since there are two rentals on the property which take care of $2300 of the $3700 monthly mortgage, which leaves them responsible for only $1400, which is less then they were paying before, and now they have a huge tax write-off and hopefully an appreciating property. Of course they are margined to the gills, but what can go wrong?

How about the tenant from hell? Forget about your wild parties and your late-with-the-rent dead beats. This guy (Michael Keaton as a slimy, upper crust psycho genius) doesn't even pay the deposit. He just moves in, squats, and our yuppie couple is helpless to get rid of him since by law he now has possession. He changes the locks, cultivates big ugly oriental cockroaches, and pounds away at all hours of the night, and chases off the other tenant. Seems he has done this before. Seems it is an elaborate scam to gain total possession of the entire property. Next to go are the owners.

Naturally the cops and the law seem to work for him, not our adorable couple. (This is a little fictional reality to further excite the passions of the audience, call it poetic license, since we all know that the tenant/landlord laws in California are written by and for the propertied class, as they are anywhere else, as is only right.)

But this is a morality play. Could it be that our yuppies are undeserving of their wealth and are easy prey in the econ jungle because of their naiveté? Could be. But as this is a modern morality tale, you can be sure that the woman, played with worrisome lines under her eyes by the ever adorable Melanie Griffith, will turn the tables and kick some male butt despite the handicap of having a not too bright boyfriend, who is easily manipulated by our villain into some rather stupid male behavior that makes things worse for our heroine. Incidentally, he is played with such annoying exactitude by Matthew Modine that I can hear the rednecks in the audience screaming: "Die yuppie scum!"

It should be noticed that the adversary of the yuppies is not your standard ghetto dweller, but a wayward member of the upper class, a fitting adversary in this yuppie trial by fire.

I'll let you guess who wins.

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Pacific Heights fmovies. Drake Goodman (Matthew Modine) and his girlfriend Patty Palmer (Melanie Griffith) are stretching their finances to the limit to buy a San Francisco house. They need to rent the two ground floor apartments to cover the mortgage. They rent one apartment to the nice Watanabes. The other one they rent to Carter Hayes (Michael Keaton). Carter seems to be well-off initially. Things turn quickly. Carter never pays rent. He causes problems. The law is on his side. The couple gets Stephanie MacDonald (Laurie Metcalf) as their lawyer.

Matthew Modine is so angry and so unlikeable that it's hard to root for him. He keeps yelling at everybody and it happens very quickly after the first hurdle. Michael Keaton is a nice creepy villain. It's somewhat a horror. The problem is that it's not a fun horror. The thrills are derived from annoyance. It is very good at being an uncomfortable watch. It's actually a relief when Modine takes a backseat to Griffith. For what it is, this is expertly made.

This may be one of those older thrillers you never got around to seeing, and wonder if it's worth a watch. That was me--and truthfully, a couple of times during the movie, I wondered too. Made in 1990, under John Schlesinger's direction, I'd expected something better. This young couple was undeniably victimized by their resident psycho--it's Keaton who really deserves the acting credit--their reactions didn't elicit much sympathy. (I was more concerned about the cat.) But I wanted to stick it out to see what happens at the end. This reviewer suggests: if you like the cast (besides Griffith, Keaton, and Modine, the players include Laurie Metcalf, Dorian Harewood, Mako, and Tippi Hedren) do give it a viewing. It's a star or two better than many similar efforts.

William Goldman says that the last 15 minutes are the most important of any movie and that's what saves what is otherwise a sometimes fascinating but often dull film in "Pacific Heights."

The plot line is fairly interesting but feels rather drawn out through most of the film, until the fantastic ending pulls out all the stops and turns the film into something good. The writing in general is a bit contrived and the dialogue fairly wooden, but it isn't quite enough to destroy the film even early.

The acting is very uneven, led by a terrible Melanie Griffith and a middling performance by Matthew Modine in terms of screen time, but certainly controlled by the fantastic performance of Michael Keaton, one of the world's greatest actors. Keaton is especially fantastic in the final sequence, from his charming act with the old woman to his harrowing, venemous final scene there is a complete change in who he is and it is all the more frightening and powerful for the juxtaposition.

Schlesinger's direction, besides Keaton's performance, is probably the saving grace of the film. He manages to inject a beautiful dark style to the film that the script rather lacks but seems to want while also keeping us in a blunt reality with the plain, simple outdoor shots. His use of lighting and well-chosen camera angles wonderfully play up the situation.

Overall, "Pacific Heights" is a middling film with a fantastic performance by Michael Keaton and good direction by John Schlesinger that turns into something better with its fantastic, surprising, venemously satisfying ending. If you watch it, though, don't give up on it 'til it's over.