North by Northwest: One for the Ages (2009)
*** (out of 4)
Fun, if short (25-minute) documentary about what makes NORTH BY NORTHWEST so special to so many people. Directors Curtis Hanson, Guillermo Del Toro, William Friedkin, Francis Lawrence and Christopher McQuarrie are interviewed about the Hitchcock classic and talk about why they feel the movie is so special. Even though it has a rather short running time I found this featurette to be pretty entertaining simply because the five directors talking about it are so energetic and excited when they talk about their favorite scenes. What we basically get are clips from the movie and then the directors talk about what makes the scene work so well. This might sound silly or light but there are actually some very interesting points made as the directors often say some things that you might not have previously thought of. The drunk driving scene with Cary Grant gets some discussion as does the comedy used when Grant is at the auction and has to find an obvious way to escape. The five directors do a very good job at explaining how entertaining the film is and you'll certainly want to watch it after you're done with this.
