When actor Christopher Reeve (Superman) signed onto the updated Rear Window project already in the works, only a couple of years after his catastrophic horseriding accident, he knew he wouldn’t need any background research for this role. He knew what it felt like to be physically challenged and could play a wheelchair-bound man for he was-and still is-one, although it must be noted that in therapy it’s a much different story!

Clearly Reeve has never been more convincing and compelling in his vulnerability, frustration and terror and I’ve seen all of the Superman movies and then some. He may be a quadriplegiac who could not at that time move anything below his neck, but let me tell you, friends, he hasn’t lost anything on the acting front.

His handsome face with those demanding-to-be-seen eyes and that raspy, yet very understandable, voice evokes more than enough emotion for me to grasp his annoyance at interruptions by the nurse, his gripping fear when seeing domestic abuse or hearing a scream or having a “pop-off” on his ventilator so he must gasp for breath until it’s fixed, and his sense of fun, disappointment, impatience and...hope for a future cure.

Published online are some interesting words he had for a hostile, professional movie critic:


It is regrettable that Mr. XXX seems not to have understood that it was not our intention to remake the Hitchcock film "Rear Window." We titled our film "Rear Window" to avoid any accusations of plagiarism because part of our plot involves a disabled man who spies on his neighbors and concludes that a murder has been committed. I was not trying to imitate Jimmy Stewart, nor was Daryl Hannah trying to be Grace Kelly. And we felt that getting to know the lead character as he goes through rehab would be informative to the audience.


Indeed it is informative, Chris. Showing us your character Jason Kemp’s determination to walk again allows us to believe in his ability to finish the building project he as an architect was working on when the car crash occurred. Now he is forced to work with a partner, a “new, talented girl” who had taken over while he was sedated and out of it: Claudia Henderson (Daryl Hannah, A Walk To Remember).

Jason’s determination doesn’t stop there, though. Along with the high-tech rehab equipment, his Jamaican aide Antonio (Ruben Santiago-Hudson, The Devil’s Advocate) suggests to the lonely Jason needing to live vicariously through his neighbors that he invest in a personal surveillance device. So he does and before long the passive hobby becomes an obsessive mission to “nail” an abusive, cheating-on-the-internet sculptor. (Claudia and a detective friend fail to discourage him.)

The lean, scruffy sculptor, Thorpe, played by Ritchie Coster (the play Betrayal), seemed pretty menacing to me, even a bit evil, especially in the final showdown between him and Jason. I can’t stand people who make fun of people with challenges! Then what made it so thrilling was that Jason had voice-activated computers designed to dial for help, lock doors, send email or whatever, but he couldn’t breathe for long without the ventilator and never before had Reeve been able to speak without it.

Daryl Hannah brought some needed lightness and suspense to the movie with her character that began being “a little freaked out” by the chair (Reeve’s own) to slowly joining his mission and falling in love with him, surprising Jason that she would want “damaged goods.” And Robert Forster (Psycho remake), playing the detective, was engaging as well.


Final Comments

As Reeve stated above, this Rear Window should be viewed on its own merits and not compared with the 1954 original. It definitely has much that is worthy of your time and consideration, despite it being made for television and suffering the occasional fade-out to a new scene. Reeve is simply riveting and you know he’s so into the character that he becomes Jason.

It is a shame, though, that the other characters and neighbors are on the fringes, that the focus on Jason and his drive to nab a murderer doesn't expand a little.

David Shires’ driving score recalled the Hitchcock classic sometimes as Jason enjoyed being “citizen voyeur” and in the suspenseful showdown. The writing team of Cornell Woolrich (story), Eric Overmyer and Larry Gross, not to forget director Jeff Bleckner (Serving in Silence) are to be applauded for packaging such an involving story in eighty-nine minutes.

I read another article about Reeve’s physical condition today and it’s much better than it was during the filming of Rear Window. I hope this little teaser provokes you to become the voyeur who watches Reeve, not only in his movie, but also this Wednesday night, September 18, at 9 CST on ABC for his special. We will be spying on him in Dana and his home as he goes through his daily routine, with his permission, of course!

It takes a lot of courage to let a faceless audience see you at your most humbling times, but Reeve once again proves that he does what no other man has done before. He shows us a Super Man.


Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: VHS
Video Occasion: Good for a Rainy Day
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children up to Age 4