Ten Stars or Less

When someone mentioned that we should watch Alfred Hitchcock movies and review them, I wanted to go off the charts and pick one that no one from this generation has heard of. I picked The Wrong Man to watch and that was the wrong choice. The film started out with our leading guy Manny Balestrero (Henry Fonda) in some deep money troubles and when he goes to get a loan off his wife’s insurance policy, he’s fingered as a robber who has knocked over a bunch of places in New York City. The story kept me interested and engaged because this poor guy is being thrown through the ringer and he has zero clue why he’s been arrested, thrown in jail, and going to trial. Thanks to some brilliant writing the story moved along at a good pace, that was until his wife (Vera Miles) has a mental breakdown and ends up in the mental hospital. Why did this need to happen and ruin a good story about a guy fighting for his life? When the wife’s problems became a focal point, the trial and ending became very weak and didn’t have the impact I was hoping for. It was at this point I realized this movie was far from Hitchcock’s best works. I haven’t even seen his most famous works (sorry) and if this was someone’s first impression of this famous director’s work, they would probably end up disinterested in what else he had to offer. 3/10 (review contributed for Genre Grandeur on movierob.wordpress.com)