"Play Misty for Me" was a very good choice of film for Clint Eastwood to direct. His directorial debut is a gripping and disturbing tale about a woman who stalks a local radio D.J after they have a one night stand. Jessica Walters gives the best performance in this film as the woman who threatens Clint Eastwood's life. The scene where she suddenly screams at the top of her voice after self- harming, still makes the hair on the back of my neck stand on end! Eastwood cast Don Siegel in a small role as a barman so as to have a bit of support with the directing. "Play Misty for Me" is perhaps overshadowed by the success of "Dirty Harry" but it is still a classic Clint Eastwood movie.

"Play Misty for Me" isn't my favorite Eastwood movie, but it's interesting to watch this is a directorial debut. It's largely muted, nothing flashy, but also not inexperienced. The guy had influences and he surely drew on them for his first time out. And his coastal getaway hamlet of Carmel is almost a supporting character. But Jessica Walter owns this thing and that's clear when the film frags in her absence. Up until that ending, it's hard to watch this and not compare it to "Fatal Attraction" (maybe a tad unfavorably), but Eastwood really kicks things up for the big finish; frenzied cutting, heightened stakes, those damn scissors). It's a slow-burn, certainly, but worth it for that final payoff.6/10

Jessica Walter (whom I always thought was striking) stalks late-night radio host, Clint Eastwood, in his directorial debut. He has that charisma that would appeal to the lonely, forgotten. I have known some jocks and they need to be careful of fans who become too familiar. Jessica is nuts. She is truly psychotic. The strength of this movie is the escalation of her utterly malignant obsession with Eastwood. Of course, he has loved ones and friends; he has a successful career where he must please his bosses. She inveigles herself into every part of his life. If she can't have him, she will destroy him. She is ruining his life. We can only root for this man to rid himself of her, but, of course, easier said than done.

Clint Eastwood's career as a director has always been a little hit or miss. When at its' peak, though, in movies like UNFORGIVEN or GRAN TORINO, Eastwood is capable of delivering cinematic power. It all started here, though, with a tense thriller that sparked off a string of imitators in films like FATAL ATTRACTION. The movie, mostly, works well due, in large part, to the strength of its' two main actors, but the viewer will see the weaknesses of a director learning the ropes.The movie starts off a little slow. Eastwood is a womanizing DJ who meets a young woman at a bar. He charms her, naturally, and they settle in for a night of nookie, with the caveat that there are to be no strings attached, though. As in real life, this sounds better than it actually works and the woman turns out to be more clingy than Eastwood would like. That's a big problem because the girl of his dreams is back in town and Eastwood is ready to settle down with her and be a one-woman man.As the movie progresses, the stalker keeps showing up. It's uncomfortable and awkward, at first, but we begin to see signs that she's angry and capable of violence. We start to learn that she's more than a little mentally unhinged. The more that Eastwood tries to drive her out of his life, the more that she insinuates herself into it, leading to bloodshed and an ultimate showdown.Jessica Walter is fantastic as the psycho stalker. She is as equally capable of playing sweet and vulnerable as she is playing violent and demanding. She is excellent in the role. Eastwood mostly stays away from his steely hero demeanor. He is cool and suave, but also willing to show that he has a sensitive side, as well. He shows great moments as a man that legitimately has no idea how to deal with this situation at times. Donna Mills, also, shows up, though mostly as the good girl who is eye candy.Eastwood shows flourishes where we see a brilliant director developing. He uses some great camera angles, knows exactly how long to track a shot, or a scene, and maintains an atmosphere throughout this movie of danger on the edges. In every scene, even the most mundane, the viewer sits on the edge of their seat, waiting for the psycho to be watching just out of frame, or to pop up when least wanted.The movie, almost, derails just before the final act. We get an entire music video mid-movie, as Eastwood and Mills cavort in the woods, taking slow walks and making slow love to the tune of Roberta Flack's THE FIRST TIME EVER I SAW YOUR FACE. We get the entire song with nothing happening but an extended love montage. Within a few scenes, we get a mostly useless scene at the Monterey Jazz Festival. Three bands perform, most of three songs are heard and nothing happens except to introduce that his girl now has a new roommate. While that revelation will have repercussions to come, the scene lasts far too long, bringing nothing more to the film that to allow Eastwood to showcase an apparent love of jazz.This movie first came on my radar years ago in Bravo's much loved SCARIEST MOVIE MOMENTS series. It was well deserved as this movie definitely has it's tense and scary moments, but is not able to carry that tension for the entire run time.