The night has many eyes

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Movie
German title The night has many eyes
Original title Stakeout
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 1987
length 116 minutes
Age rating FSK 16
Rod
Director John Badham
script Jim Kouf
production John Badham
music Arthur B. Rubinstein
camera John Seale
cut Michael Ripps , Tom Rolf
occupation
chronology

Successor  →
Die Abservierer

The night has many eyes (Original title: Stakeout ) is an American feature film directed by John Badham . The police officers Chris and Bill, played by Richard Dreyfuss and Emilio Estevez , observe the apartment of Maria ( Madeleine Stowe ), whose friend ( Aidan Quinn ) has escaped from prison. Chris falls in love with the young woman.

action

When the convicted murderer Richard Montgomery breaks out of prison, possible contacts are monitored by the FBI , including Montgomery's ex-girlfriend Maria, who lives in Seattle . The night shift monitoring Maria from the vacant house opposite is taken on by criminal police officers Chris Lecce and Bill Reimers, who take turns with their colleagues Jack and Phil. Lecce and Reimers have been working together as a team for a long time.

After Lecce, disguised as a technician, bugged Maria's phone, she later accidentally recognized him in the supermarket and invited him to her home for dinner. Lecce falls in love with her. Since the colleagues except Reimers are not allowed to notice anything and Lecce has to continue to monitor Maria, several bizarre situations arise. After a police chase with Montgomery, Montgomery's car crashes into a river and the FBI pronounces him dead.

The surveillance stops and Chris has to figure out how to teach Maria the truth. At this very moment, Montgomery actually turns up at Maria's and meets Chris, who in an emergency poses as an ex-bank robber. Reimers, who had watched everything through the window and wants to help Chris, is knocked out by Chris himself so that he doesn't gossip and to prevent Montgomery from shooting at him. When Montgomery discovers Bill's police badge, Chris says he's not after Montgomery, but after him. Montgomery then takes Maria, Chris and Bill with him on his further escape. A showdown takes place at a sawmill in which Chris and Bill save Maria and Montgomery is fatally injured.

Trivia

At the beginning of the film, Chris and Bill play a movie quote guessing game. Bill asks Chris: "It wasn't a boating accident?", To which Chris replies: "I don't know!". The quote is an allusion to the role of Dreyfuss in the thriller Jaws .

criticism

film-dienst 2/1988 wrote that the film was " routine entertainment that uses the basis of gangster and detective films for a mixture of comical passages and action " as well as demonstrating a " feeling for atmosphere and tension ".

Awards

backgrounds

The concept of the film shows parallels with Alfred Hitchcock's classic thriller Das Fenster zum Hof ​​(1954) , in which protagonists from one apartment only observe mysterious processes in another apartment and are then drawn more and more into it. At the box office, The Night Has Many Eyes was a financial success. It brought back about $ 65 million at a cost of production of $ 14.5 million. In 1993, the sequel Die Abservierer (Another Stakeout) was created with the same staff and cast . In addition to Richard Dreyfuss and Emilio Estevez, Rosie O'Donnell took on another leading role. This film could not match the success of the first film and flopped at the box office.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Stakeout 'Ranks No. 1 In box office sales . In: The New York Times , September 2, 1987. Retrieved November 17, 2010. 
  2. ^ Stakeout in First Place In Week's Ticket Sales . In: The New York Times , August 27, 1987. Retrieved November 17, 2010. 
  3. ↑ David J. Fox: Weekend Box Office: 'Poetic' Finds Its Place in Line , The Los Angeles Times . July 27, 1993. Retrieved January 12, 2011. 

Web links