The movie is made so realistic it has a lot of that WoW feeling at the right moments and never tooo over the top. the suspense is done so well and the emotion is felt. Very well put together with the music and all.

It’s sentimental, ridiculously long and only occasionally funny

Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

Just intense enough to provide a much-needed diversion, just lightweight enough to make you forget about it soon after it’s over. It’s not exactly “good,” per se, but it does what it sets out to do in terms of putting us on edge, which makes it … successful?

Released the same year as "The Accused"--a better film that received plenty of attention by critics and the media--"The House on Carroll Street" is another Kelly McGillis vehicle, but it suffered from a lack of interest.McGillis plays Kathryn Murphy, an editor for "Life" magazine who loses her job after being targeted in a 1951 Senate hearing by the zealous committee that capitalized on the Red Scare.She takes a lesser job but unexpectedly (and very coincidentally) finds herself embroiled in a dangerous intrigue.Unfortunately, the script lacks motivation for some actions taken by Murphy. As she plays sleuth, there are some Hitchcockian touches, but they only serve to remind the viewer of how this film is lacking.Shot in Manhattan, the exteriors are sometimes interesting.Jeff Daniels is an FBI agent who is charged with investigating Ms. Murphy. Mandy Patinkin plays the heavy. And Jessica Tandy plays the strict employer who is reluctantly charmed by Murphy's disarming demeanor.This period piece does a good job of recalling the fifties, but the meat of this story leaves one wanting.

Another uneven Hollywood attempt to capture the devastation and destructive consequences of the McCarthy Era. It was a confusing time for Everyone, not the least of which was our Government. After the Atom was cracked it seems so did We, unable to understand Who was Who, What was real and not Paranoia, How to handle the exponential accelerating Pace of World Events, and just When, Where, and How it would all End. The Why was left for the Philosophers and Historians.In an attempt to stop Communism as well as Free Speech our Leaders went to Unconstitutional means to uncover and eradicate its "infiltration" in our Society and they were looking everywhere, even under the bed. Is anyone Youngish aware of the slogan "Better Dead than Red"?This homage to Hitchcock is a rather flat and uninteresting take on some of that with a bit more of bring the Nazis over here before the Soviets get them. There are moments that are Suspenseful but not enough to maintain any sense of urgency. The Film is Shallow and flirts around with a Romantic Subplot that fizzles and a defusing Bomb Scene that plays, unintentionally like a Comedy.Recommended for the better parts, but be advised that some of it just doesn't work and is really a let down considering the Weight of the Subject Matter.

romance without feeling, drama of issues without point (or drama).... This film is supposed to be all these and fails on every account, as if it isn't trying. Or as if the director/editor/scriptwriter team isn't really trying. The actors are able--they need better support.One element that doesn't fail is the score by George Delarue. Beautiful and moving. What a shame it's attached to this film. In a good film actors' words and movements and music synchronize and enhance the impact. This editor plastered on music with no regard for dialogue and movement. The love scene is particularly grating in this respect: an insult to the talents of the lead actors.There is another element in the film that works: location photography. Notably one moment in Grand Central Station. I'd guessed in advance what was going to happen; but the filming was breathtaking.Some commentators on this board have pointed out that US assimilation of criminal Nazi scientists actually happened during these years of the MacCarthy scare. The moment the film seems to start looking seriously at American society, it switches into conventional romance; before any human feelings can move us, it's away on a (predictable) 'thriller' escapade.Just as the film insults the talents of the actors, it insults the issues it's pretends (and fails) to take up.

When I checked this one out of the library, I thought it might be an early 50's film-noir about spy smuggling but it turns out to be a 1988 effort to reconstruct an era circa 1951 when World War II memories were fresh and looking for Reds was becoming a national pastime.Unfortunately, the reconstruction of 50's scenes comes off a whole lot better than the picture. Jeff Daniels does a nice little job as the government agent with a heart but the story has more holes than McCarthy's logic.Kelly McGinniss spends the movie being pursued--in libraries, on roof tops, in train stations, you name it, but there's something lacking--I think it's called a plot.They would have been better off chucking the Nazi bad guy stuff and straying with the McCarthy smear of our heroine. Do it in black and white and build the picture of the sinister democracy it could have been.