Waste of time. So many better movies out there that deserve your time.It fails at both farce and thriller, not being funny enough for one and too ridiculous for the other.Highly intelligent lead character would not react the way he does to SO many irrational people and circumstances.One nutter in his life would be feasible, but everyone being a nutter doesn't make it a good farce. And yet he doesn't either suspect anything, nor does he apply his intelligence one iota to protect or extricate himself. Keeps on answering the phone in the middle of the night, keeps on plodding along just putting up with it all as if this is normal.

I had hoped that Julia Stiles could save this movie. She can't. Most actresses and actors cannot overcome a bad script and indifferent direction. And this script is low quality, indeed. The director is not much better. Fans of Ms. Stiles should stick with the Bourne films and "10 Things I Hate About You". People who want offbeat suspense might try "Let Me In" or one of several Korean horror flicks from the last 15 years, including "Tell Me Something". Hitchcock fans will not be impressed with this, though some may opine that is who this director is attempting to emulate. If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, then incompetence is the worst form of filmmaking.

I particularly appreciated the observation by hansdewolff regarding Mr. Considine's performance: "On the other side I did have some trouble with Paddy Considine as Robert. Sure, he played the dull, neurotic, passive and slightly cowardly character to perfection. Yet something was amiss...in the rest of the movie it's just not enough in sync with the premise of a charming guy who's sought-after by two beautiful women"I felt very much the same as I endured the film's first half...not only in his appearance did he evoke a grim, dull figure, his emotional attitude was also bleak and flat...the spectator should care for, if not totally identify, with him (he is the main character)...in fact the whole first half seemed more bleak and grim and ultimately alienating than it need have been...maybe not only at times having him be more appealing (emotionally and physically) would have been to make him somewhat manic-depressive (certain charming highs as well as alienating lows), in a sense the contrast established between the urban and the rural worlds could be echoed (in a different way of course) by contrasts in his characterization and dress...it certainly would have made first half of the narrative less boring and ultimately the film more engaging...

Virtually ignored on it's release, barely reviewed in the press, I think this is a great film that is misunderstood and unfairly misjudged. This movie is essentially a dark comedy and a bad dream rolled into one. The story, based on the novel by Highsmith, is absurd, of course it's a comedy as all Highsmith's work is essentially darkly humorous, come on, a stalker who gets stalked by his victim? The director has a very subtle touch and I think this is why so many people watching this film are lost, the film doesn't make conventional choices, it simply doesn't make it easy on the viewer that's why so many people feel confused by this movie, but in my opinion many viewers these days are unable to recognize when a film is interesting, doing something different from the norm, and this film is doing exactly that. The film has touches of Lynch, Cronenberg and the Cohens about it yet refuses to follow any of those directors paths.You could say it is quite old fashioned, it relies heavily on mise on scene, a lost art today in most films, but to label it Hitchcockian is doing the film a great disservice because the label is too easy to apply here and the director, I believe, is well aware of the obvious comparison and is constantly playing with those notions. This is perhaps more a philosophical thriller than a psychological one and perhaps that is why it doesn't satisfy everyone, maybe the film could have benefited from a little more tension, but for me it is an intelligent dissection of the dangers of the romantic mind.Robert wants the perfect woman, he stares at her through her window as if in a painting, but he knows the perfect woman doesn't exist, when Jenny invites Robert in the 'real' woman is exposed as being even more nuts than him. Look at what Robert says to Nickie, his ex wife, at the end, 'when I first saw you , you were like a statue, then you moved and it was all...downhill from there on in.' He's only happy with the frozen image of a woman, I believe both Jenny and Nickie's death are kind of willed by this man in some dark way, set in motion by him at the very least, the women he loves are more beautiful to him in death (as statues) than alive. At the end Robert gets what he wishes for, to be in the painting (the window) himself but always alone. Recommended only for those with a wicked sense of humour, patience and a sharp intellect.