not horrible nor great

A Major Disappointment

The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

Love the Movie! But my Mean Ass Mother-In-Law got Ideas from this Movie. She has been Playing the Hand that Rocked The Cradle with My Daughter and I ever since. Apparently she forgets how the Movie Ends. I stay completely away from her ignorant little bitty Bitch Ass. She has done nothing but make a Wedge! Dear Dearly Departed, Please come get her and Please HURRY!!!!

I'd be wanting to see this film for some time, and knowing that Curtis Hanson was directing, I was anticipating a very solid ride.Sadly, I was more than a little disappointed with the outcome.Much of the problem of this film lies with the script, I believe. For me, The Hand That Rocks The Cradle represents the absolute epitome of formula-driven filmmaking.While Fatal Attraction, an earlier example of the 'person from hell' thriller subgenre is tightly-structured, it nevertheless managed to be more than just a formula film, by offering nuanced portrayals of protagonist & antagonist. Though terrifying, Glenn Close's Alex was, for my money, still a rather conflict and even sympathetic character through much of the story, as she fights a losing battle against her growing obsession. It elevated the material and made the villain not simply one-dimensional.In this film, however, I found it very hard to feel any sympathy at all for Peyton. Her double losses of child and husband at the beginning of the film were presumably anticipated to generate a level of sympathy for the character, but it was not the case for me. As soon as she enters as Peyton, she demonstrates a single-minded intent and maliciousness not out of step with a moustache-twirling bond villain.To some extent, characters in a film will always function in service of the plot, but I think the secret of good writing is to make it less obvious - that each character's choices feel organic to their character and not simply existing to push the plot forward piece by piece - unless of course you're making a spoof or parody.I read in one review that the screenwriter wrote this script as her thesis during film school, and it very much feels like a student of films like Fatal Attraction and others doing a carefully-planned paint by numbers incarnation of the psycho person thriller.

I give this a 10 for sure. Cast is brilliant and script works for them all. My favorite actress Julianne Moore only a supportive role. Still loved her in this. Rebecca Mornay is terrific in this. She plays the role with such evil and always with this innocent look on her face. You love to hate her. Annabella Sciorra and Matt McCoy as the unsuspecting victims were well cast with the right touch of simplicity needed. Ernie Hudson was brilliant as the slow minded handyman. Also special mention should go to the child victim Madeline Zima who did a wonderful acting job. Kudos to the director and screenwriter. This is one of the best I've seen in a long time. But this is Mornay's film all the way. She is brilliant. I usually hate the female villains, but this time I loved her performance from start to finish. A must see for all viewers. It's on FLIX now. Was on LMN.

"The Hand that Rocks the Cradle" is a fairly formulaic thriller that moves along well enough but is ultimately forgettable.The premise is the most interesting part: a woman complains about sexual harassment at the hands of a doctor and the doctor commits suicide. The doctor's widow, in her shock, loses her baby and is given an emergency hysterectomy.She insinuates herself into the family of the woman who made the complaint, bent on revenge, and begins trying to tear the family apart.The movie feels very familiar, with the concerned friend who realises the truth about the villainess and tries to stop her, but ends up dead, and the way she goes into full psycho mode at the end of it, becoming violent when her more insidious techniques fail her.This may not be a problem for most people, but the issue is the way it glosses over certain plot details, confident that we're so used to what we're seeing that we won't notice. Eg., how do both the concerned friend and the mother herself work out the truth about the evil nanny? They find out somehow, but it's not really explained. Worse still is the way the intellectually disabled handyman, played by Ernie Hudson, comes back to save the day. Why? And why at that moment exactly, where he is most needed?What's worse than a formulaic thriller is one that plays a nanny to you as well. The movie won't let you feel anything too negative. It coddles you, which is not the way a thriller should behave.