The Age of Commercialism

It's not great by any means, but it's a pretty good movie that didn't leave me filled with regret for investing time in it.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

In terms of camera work, lighting, pace and direction in general, this is a fine piece of film-making. Penn knows all the bells and whistles as usual and Mary Steenburgen is quite amazing in her roles. I'm put off as I am so often by the many critics who look to film for verisimilitude (the "if it couldn't or wouldn't ordinarily happen in real life" brigade) that sets us so far behind our European counterparts. The film has a remarkable sense of entrapment and claustrophobia in the dead of winter in the middle of nowhere. As far as whether the events really could happen like that, I suppose I was more interested in the style, craftsmanship and general concept than of probabilities or even possibilities. The camera work and rhythm at the end of the film are magnificent. As for the "damsel in distress" nonsense, how many thousands of movies fall into that genre anyway? Are they all uniformly bad because they use a successful formula? This is the kind of movie where it's fun to sit back and enjoy the fireworks without bothering about split infinitives and the like. Curtis Stotlar

Out of work actress Katie McGovern (Mary Steenburgen) takes a job that takes her from NYC to Canada. She is to replace an actress named Julie Rose who walked off the set of her movie. She finds herself in an isolated mansion with Dr. Joseph Lewis (Jan Rubes) and sinister butler Mr. Murray (Roddy McDowell). She also discovers she's a pawn in a deadly blackmail scheme.I vaguely remember seeing this in Boston on opening night in 1987. I had just seen another bad thriller ("Black Widow") and thought this couldn't be as bad as that one was. I was right--it was worse! A VERY loose remake of "My Name is Julia Ross". That 1945 thriller didn't need to be remade...but when did that ever stop Hollywood? This is a slow and dull movie with a very mean streak--we almost see a woman's finger cut off in the first 15 minutes! It's hard to believe director Arthur Penn did this one. The plot becomes needlessly convoluted (and stupider) as the movie goes on. There are plot holes galore (the reaction of the two policemen was incredibly dumb) and the ending is truly laughable.Steenburgen, McDowell and Rubes are all good--but even their considerable acting talents can't save this. A career low point for all involved. This was (understandably) a big bomb. I give it a 3 for the acting, some good direction and beautiful scenery (shot on location in Canada).

Enjoyed the 1945 film, "My Name is Julie Ross", 1945 starring Nina Foch, which was a great thrilling film for 1945. However, this 1987 remake held my interest from beginning to the very end. It was full of horror, thrills and plenty of chills in a very winter time of year with plenty of snow and howling winds and a creepy old home. Mary Steenburgen, (Julie Ross) plays the role of a struggling actress and tries out for an audition and secures the acting position and is required to stay in the producers home. Roddy McDowell, (Mr. Murray) guides Julie Ross into a large spider web of murder, torture and secret panels in the walls and plenty of blood. Jan Rubes, (Dr. Joseph Lewis) plays the so called doctor and producer who simply adores Julie Ross and simply does not want her to leave and go home to her husband. Mary Steenburgen gave an outstanding performance along with the great former actor, Roddy McDowell. Enjoy

This movie did not scare me. It made me guffaw with the absurdity of it. Maybe this movie would have scared someone in the 1950's, but for the hard-core horror fans, this attempt is laughable. When Mary Steenbergen's character unwrapped her hand to find a perfectly healed stump, I laughed at the look on her face. How long was she asleep anyway? Just a lot of stupid things like that, and Roddy McDowall ws so NOT intimidating or frightening. This character was just SUCH a pushover - she didn't even try really hard to escape her situation. This was just bad, bad, bad, very cheesy.