For all its attempts to be a Cold War thriller, there is little thrilling about Torn Curtain. There is little to no mystery here and any supposed twist that the film produces seems telegraphed. Even the screen presence of Paul Newman and Julie Andrews can't make the film more entertaining.
There is little "bad" about Torn Curtain it is just quite dull overall. A film like this needs a "who can you trust" feel to it and the film never makes any character even remotely questionable. The lines of right and wrong and good and evil are thick black lines here. Even the idea of suspense is suspended as there were few times I felt the leads were in any real jeopardy. Even in the climax (filmed on the set of Phantom of the Opera no less) I never got a sense of real risk.
Despite being Paul Newman and Julie Andrews, the leads just really have no chemistry together. Both are good and in their own way they are each amazing performances. But here they feel underused and lacking much of their usual appeal. Where there is charisma is in some of the colourful side characters they encounter along the way, even though many of these are a bit over the top.
So perhaps sometimes a plan just doesn't all come together. Again, there is little really wrong with Torn Curtain it just never really finds any magic.
Torn Curtain
Starring: Paul Newman, Julie Andrews
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Writers: Willis Hall, Keith Waterhouse
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