VeteranLight I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.

Brainsbell The story-telling is good with flashbacks.The film is both funny and heartbreaking. You smile in a scene and get a soulcrushing revelation in the next.

Quiet Muffin This movie tries so hard to be funny, yet it falls flat every time. Just another example of recycled ideas repackaged with women in an attempt to appeal to a certain audience.

Juana what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

ccc-123 OK, so it's no Vertigo, but I enjoyed this homage to the Hitchcock genre.Multiple references to Hitchcock's work. Some are obvious (a blonde, a suspenseful auction) some enjoyably less so (a stuffed bird, and the house that is in Glen Cove). It's fun to pick them out.An atmospheric and suspenseful story, which holds interest. Streep is beautiful and plays the brittleness of her character very well I thought. Scheider is his usual dependable self.Overall, I think a tad underrated and well worth a spare ninety minutes.

seymourblack-1 Fans of psychological thrillers will enjoy this movie's dark, intriguing and moody opening titles which, very simply and effectively, set the scene for the murder mystery that follows. Its deliberate pace, disturbing atmosphere and visual style all contribute to a constant sense of unease and coldness which is often magnified by the rather restrained natures of its two main characters who are interesting to watch because their actions aren't always logical and their motivations aren't consistently clear.A little while after successful Manhattan psychiatrist Dr Sam Rice (Roy Scheider) hears that George Bynum (Josef Sommer), who was one of his patients, has been brutally murdered, Bynum's mistress Brooke Reynolds (Meryl Streep), visits his office to give him her lover's watch so that he can pass it on to Bynum's wife without telling her about their affair. Sam is reluctant to do this but is rushed into agreeing when NYPD Detective Joseph Vitucci (Joe Grifasi) arrives at his office to ask for any information he might have which could help to identify the murderer. Sam tells him that he's unable to help because to do so would involve a breach of patient confidentiality and Vitucci then tells Sam that he could be in danger if the killer thinks that he does, in fact, possess this type of information.After Vitucci leaves, Sam starts to review his records of the sessions he'd had with Bynum during which the serial womaniser (who'd worked as an antiques curator at the upmarket auction house called "Crispin's") had explained how he'd cheated on his wife and dumped his previous mistress to start his affair with Brooke. Furthermore, he'd added that he knew that she'd killed someone in the past and also described a dream he'd had which had left him feeling both puzzled and disturbed.Sam, whose interest in Brooke had been piqued during his sessions with Bynum, finds himself powerfully attracted to her and abandoning his usual cautiousness, decides to try to find out who'd actually murdered his patient. His investigations then put him in extreme danger before some further analysis of Bynum's dream provides him with the breakthrough he'd been seeking."Still of the Night" is a wonderfully atmospheric and elegant-looking thriller that uses numerous Alfred Hitchcock references and motifs that range from passages inspired by "North By Northwest", "Rear Window", "Vertigo" and "Spellbound" to some less obvious ones, such as a mention of an Uncle Charlie ("Shadow of a Doubt") and the technique of suddenly putting the focus on a prop to create suspense (in this case, George Bynum's watch).Although it's essentially a rather lightweight thriller, this movie is very stylish and visually impressive and these qualities combined with its mesmerising performances from Roy Scheider and Meryl Streep result in a higher quality end-result than would otherwise have been possible.

tieman64 A psychological thriller, Robert Benton's "Still of the Night" stars Roy Scheider as a psychologist who falls in love with a woman (Meryl Streep) who may or may not be a psychopathic killer.It quickly becomes apparent that "Still of the Night" is hugely indebted to Alfred Hitchcock. Unfortunately, Benton is no Hitch. Hitchcock was a master of his medium, whilst Benton's merely "aesthetically competent". And where Hitchcock's plots crackle with sexuality, Benton is unable to coax heat out of Streep or Scheider."Night" co-stars Joe Grifasi and Jessica Tandy. The oft-praised Streep overacts, or takes too seriously, a thankless role, though one sequence in which she screams in fright is magnificent. You've never heard a better damsel in distress.6/10 – Worth one viewing. For better Benton flicks, see "Bad Company", "Billy Bathgate" and "Nobody's Fool".

moonspinner55 It seems inconceivable that Robert Benton should become a filmmaker without a sense of humor. His earlier screenplays co-written with David Newman, not to mention "The Late Show" (Benton's prickly, funny private-eye comedy from 1977), were filled with little bits of clever homage and dry wit. "Still of the Night" is just that: still. It's an old-fashioned murder mystery which follows the pattern of familiar noirs and thrillers from the past, but it fails without any personality from Benton or his actors. There's nothing tangible going on in Meryl Streep's performance as an auction-house employee in New York City whom everyone thinks is a killer; she's aloof and unreal, only connecting with the audience in the two or three instances where she cracks a smile. Roy Scheider plays a psychiatrist who may be marked for murder, and he falls for Streep's mystery woman despite the signs that she's unstable. The picture creaks and groans until the last act, where Benton suddenly livens up and brings the thing to a commendable conclusion. A talky, impersonal piece of work overall, and not worth the trouble except for Streep-completists. *1/2 from ****