Frantic is one of my favourite thrillers. It has the Hitchcock stamp of someone being in the wrong place at the wrong time - in foreign surroundings (think North by Northwest/ Foreigh Correspondent - both brilliant movies). It stars the always compelling Harrison Ford as the frantic husband who is searching for his wife after she has gone missing in Paris shortly after they have checked into their hotel room. The setup is great, we see this loving couple settling in to their hotel room, nothing is overly done, this is all very real and brilliantly shot. The movie is perfectly paced and we feel the frustration of Richard Walker's scenario (Ford's character) as he desperately tries to piece together the few clues he has as to where his wife may be. There are also great little bouts of humour in the film which again reflect the reality of a trying situation when sometimes the only emotion left to default to is humour. Richard Walker's befriending of Michelle (played by the beautiful Emmanuelle Seigner) adds warmth to what is on the whole a very isolating movie (we see how Walker struggles in Paris, unable to speak French, and unable to convince anyone that his wife has been kidnapped) past the point of Walker's wife disappearing.
The movie is also kind of strange, as reflected in much of the music chosen, and also in the twists and turns the plot takes. I always remember a certain scene where Walker and Michelle have entered an Arab club, they are here to talk to a lead they have on Walker's wife, and whilst there Michelle asks Walker to dance, and boy what a dance!
Another of my favourite scenes in the movie is when Walker and Michelle are driving in her car, and Michelle asks Walker what kind of music he likes, he replies that he likes old music, and Michelle says she does too, sat in the car they're listening to Grace Jones and Walker says this isn't old music, and Michelle says it is, it's 3 or 4 years old.
Frantic is a Roman Polanski gem and a must for all Harrison Ford fans.
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