In der Stille der Nacht (1982)

In der Stille der Nacht: Directed by Robert Benton. With Roy Scheider, Meryl Streep, Jessica Tandy, Joe Grifasi. A Manhattan psychiatrist probes a patient’s murder and falls for the victim’s mysterious mistress.

“This intriguing movie packs thriller , tension , suspense, romance , unlimited excitement and plot twists . Sam Rice (Roy Scheider) , a Manhattan psychiatrist probes a patientu0026#39;s murder and soon afterward falls for the victimu0026#39;s mysterious mistress . Dr. Rice is visited by George Bynum (Joseph Sommer)u0026#39;s co-worker and mistress Brooke Reynolds (Meryl Streep) with increasingly suspicious behavior . Later on , there comes the investigating officer Detective Vitucci (Joe Grifasi) dealing with the rare events . As Dr. Rice reviews the case notes on his sessions with Bynum and he suspects that Brooke may or may not the murderer . At the same time , Sam investigates the mysterious deeds and he puts his own life in risk .u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThis Hitchcock-style mystery/thriller contains suspense , tension , chills and continuous intrigue . The picture promises much but fails its objectives . Itu0026#39;s suspenseful but often the mysterious elements have not quite gelled . Thereu0026#39;s also an exciting and intriguing dream sequence in which results to be resolved the killing similarly to ¨Spellbound¨ by Alfred Hitchcock . Roy Scheider gives good performance as a psychiatrist who starts his own investigation about a murder and falling in love for enigmatic blonde Brooke excellently acted by Meryl Streep . After her greatest hit ¨Kramer vs Kramer¨ that pushed Merylu0026#39;s career forward , she was impressed enough to work again with Benton and played this ¨Still of the night¨ , however , it resulted to be a flop . Stylish cinematography by a magnificent cameraman , the Spanish Nestor Almendros , Bentonu0026#39;s usual and full of lights and darks .u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe motion picture is professionally directed by Robert Benton but without originally and this flick turns out to be thinly spread . Texas director has a varied career as he was an editor of magazine , production designer , set decorator and has written a number of imaginative stories for children . He realized few movies even accounting for those in whose screenplays he wrote as ¨Bonnie and Clyde¨ , ¨There was a crooked man¨ , ¨Whatu0026#39;s up doc ?¨ , ¨Superman¨ and even ¨Still of the night¨ . His big hit as director was the weepie ¨Kramer vs Kramer¨ and won him the Oscar for writing and direction , the next was warm-hearted ¨Places in the heart¨ with basic human values and revealed his softer side . Following filmmaking the underrated ¨Nadine¨ , a comic-strip comedy with Jeff Bridges and Kim Basinger . After that , he directed a gangster movie ¨Billy Bathgate¨ with Nicole Kidman and Dustin Hoffman , ¨Nobodyu0026#39;s fool¨ which won Paul Newman an Academy Award nomination and he worked again with Benton four years later on ¨Twilight¨ . ¨Still of the night¨ was a failure and turned out to be a flop at the box office . Rating : Average , 5,5 . Only for Meryl Streep fans .”