Never in the history of this blog have I called specific attention to a film’s availability for home viewing, but we have a very special occasion on our hands. I have just this minute discovered that Giuseppe Capotondi’s masterful romantic thriller, The Double Hour is available on Netflix Instant. This is notable information for a number of reasons.
When I wrote my original review of the film in June, the review itself got very little attention. Almost no hits, and zero comments. Why? Because no one had heard of it. Hell, I only saw it because I was intrigued by its one-sheet in the movie theater lobby. The fact is, The Double Hour made the festival rounds back in 2009 and was released on a very narrow scale last summer. I believe it ventured to a total of 12 U.S. theaters for only two weeks. Then it vanished. No wide theatrical release was hinted at, no DVD release date was published. I highlighted it as one of my top 10 films of 2011, but for all intents and purposes, it was gone.
Until now. Now, it sits there, not at all begging to be added to your queue, but rather, to be viewed instantly. If you’re a Netflix user, then check out The Double Hour. Others can rent it on iTunes or buy it from Amazon (as I just have).
I’m not even going to divulge a plot synopsis of the film here, because knowing next to nothing is better than knowing too much. If you want to read more, check out my original review here (don’t worry, I’m very discrete). Just know that The Double Hour is one of the most impeccably crafted, skillfully executed thrillers I’ve ever seen. It’s the kind of flick that makes Hitchcock smile smugly from beyond the grave.
One of the most puzzling aspects about the film is that it is only 96 minutes long. I have no idea how Giuseppe Capotondi managed to fit so many thrills into such a short period of time.
Bloody hell Alex you know how to sell a movie, I'll have to give it a go!
ReplyDelete@Pete NICE! Love hearing that. Believe me man, it'll be worth it. Let me know what you think!
ReplyDeleteI second that motion- moving it into my queue right now. I'll have to let you know what I think when I get around to watching it.
ReplyDelete@Gregory Roy This is making my day, seriously. So glad you are checking it out!
ReplyDeleteI already have 99. One more won't do much harm right?? Atleast I will get nice round number. Maybe I will do Double Feature on one of the days this weekend - 'Alex Recommends' - Love Crime and The Double Hour. How does this sound ?? :)
ReplyDeleteAgreed with Pete. You sell this shit! I'm going to have to check it out as soon as I get some time on my hands.
ReplyDelete@SDG Ha, sounds AWESOME! I cannot recommend The Double Hour enough. Those two movies would make an excellent double feature.
ReplyDelete@M. Hufstader haha nice! Let me know what you think.
ReplyDeleteI saw it! I swear I did! I happened to be in New York when it was showing in the theater and went!
ReplyDeleteDid you also think the film's obligatory "twist" made the entire thing, like, DOUBLY depressing?
@Nick Prigge NICE! Dude, I LOVED the twistiness of the whole thing. The twists, and double twists and reversed twists. I didn't find it depressing at all, just ingenious. Ah, love it.
ReplyDeleteSo glad to find another person that has seen this!
Well, I just went to Netflix to put it in my queue and the very first sentence of Netflix's description appears to give away a massive plot point. I can probably now extrapolate from that what the twist will be. So much for not knowing anything about the movie before seeing it. Thanks Netflix.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, that's nothing to do with you. Thanks for the recommendation.
@Chip Lary I've actually considered writing Netflix a letter giving specific examples of how their two-sentence plot descriptions completely spoil movies. But, given the state that business is in, I'm not sure a letter would do any good haha.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, I just read the synopsis and while it gives more away than I would've, there's a lot more going on in the film than that. Believe me.
Enjoy!