Double Exposure

This one is pure formula. If you like your crime stories dished up very simply and predictably, you may enjoy it.

It seemed to me that the biggest crime in the movie was committed by the script writer, who has taken a brilliant story concept (a chance photograph of a murder) and managed to strip it of all dramatic interest. There are no real surprises and no suspense to keep your interest. About the only positive things I could say are that the movie has accidentally done a fine job of recording English town and country scenes in the 1950s, and the musical score by Australian composer John Lanchbery is of some interest.

By contrast, just 12 years later Antonioni's classic movie `Blowup' (1966) took almost the same story concept and wove a web of suspense, mystery, fear, imagination, sexuality and keen social observation. I wonder if the writers of Blowup ever saw this sad little precursor. If they did draw inspiration from it, they would probably be the only people who ever did.

Oh and by the way, it's not giving too much away to say that the hero and heroine never get closer than bumping into each other by accident. Apparently only the baddies have sex. Curse that prudish decade of the 1950s!