Torn Curtain

I don't have a lot to say about Torn Curtain, mainly because Torn Curtain doesn't have a lot to say. It's not that it isn't a good movie, because it is. Not great, pretty much a platonic-ideal Hitchcock espionage movie. But that's just the thing: that's all it is. There's a romantic angle to it that's different, especially with how it plays against the Cold War backdrop. But ultimately, Torn Curtain has no ambition beyond being a competent if unremarkable espionage thriller with a hell of a one-two punch in the lead spots. You can feel a weird kind of listless exhaustion with the direction here, which, half-assed Hitchcock is better than full-assed most other directors. But there's no doubt this is from the swoon after Hitchcock's imperial period, an era of Hitch's filmography that feels like he's going through the motions. Torn Curtain won't amaze, and unless you're eagle-eyed, may not even seem like a Hitchcock movie. But it isn't a bad time either. Better than its reputation, but not by much.