Pacific Heights is a great movie is you're in the mood for good suspense. It is the tale of two newlyweds (Melanie Griffith as Patty; Matt Modine as Drake), slightly short on reasonable income, who buy a hefty house in Pacific Heights. Being a larger house than they initially intended to buy, they rent out the floors. One goes to a polite Asian couple. The other, to a wealthy man (Michael Keaton as Carter Hayes) who is in the business of real estate scams.
Carter is the worst case scenario of a tenant. Short of murdering the landlords and fellow tenants, he moves in rather quickly and bypasses much of the background checks by telling the impressionable young couple a bunch of lies (actually, it's pretty much Drake's fault for rushing into everything without adequately checking up on Hayes). Then, without every paying up the rent or deposit, he hangs around just long enough to get tenant's rights (or at least a presumption of rights, after which the already tight-budget couple would have to sue to claim misrepresentation and everything) and keep the couple from kicking him out. Gradually, terrorizing them as he had done so many times before. It's all part of his scam.
Michael Keaton is terrific as the elusive and obviously strange and brutally eerie Carter Hayes. He is so creepy, I think that's what makes the movie so suspenseful like the scene when he's hanging out in the basement when the power goes out. Or the final revenge sequence in the hotel (perhaps the finale is one of the greatest revenge sequences ever in a movie!). The guy who's made it his purpose to raise as much hell as possible to get what he wants. But, this may well be the last time Carter gets away with it. Patty and Drake seem to fall apart when their tenant not only refuses to leave, but makes trouble for the other tenants (in a pretty gross way).
Drake doesn't handle the situation too well. The couple immediately feel helpless when even the law fails to rid them of Carter Hayes. The viewer, too, gets on edge about Carter Hayes. How do you make a guy like this get the f*ck out of your home? (That's one of the great elements of suspense, in a way, we feel like the invasion of Patty and Drake's home is like an invasion of our own. That's just how powerful a character like Carter Hayes is). And Drake's form of vigilante justice isn't the smartest way of handling the situation, using fists of fury rather than intellect, which seems to only exacerbate the couple's problems. In fact, Patty is the one responsible for the fantastic events that create one of the best revenge scenes and really give Carter Hayes his own just deserts.
Pacific Heights really is a fantastic thriller. Some might not appreciate Matthew Modine being cast as Drake here. A part like this might've called for someone less dorky, since Drake wasn't really a straggly guy, he was just a guy who wanted to get rid of Carter too fast without really thinking about the smartest way of going about it. However, Melanie Griffith works great in her role as Patty. Nonetheless, it is really good stuff, a thriller that you're sure to enjoy!
Carter is the worst case scenario of a tenant. Short of murdering the landlords and fellow tenants, he moves in rather quickly and bypasses much of the background checks by telling the impressionable young couple a bunch of lies (actually, it's pretty much Drake's fault for rushing into everything without adequately checking up on Hayes). Then, without every paying up the rent or deposit, he hangs around just long enough to get tenant's rights (or at least a presumption of rights, after which the already tight-budget couple would have to sue to claim misrepresentation and everything) and keep the couple from kicking him out. Gradually, terrorizing them as he had done so many times before. It's all part of his scam.
Michael Keaton is terrific as the elusive and obviously strange and brutally eerie Carter Hayes. He is so creepy, I think that's what makes the movie so suspenseful like the scene when he's hanging out in the basement when the power goes out. Or the final revenge sequence in the hotel (perhaps the finale is one of the greatest revenge sequences ever in a movie!). The guy who's made it his purpose to raise as much hell as possible to get what he wants. But, this may well be the last time Carter gets away with it. Patty and Drake seem to fall apart when their tenant not only refuses to leave, but makes trouble for the other tenants (in a pretty gross way).
Drake doesn't handle the situation too well. The couple immediately feel helpless when even the law fails to rid them of Carter Hayes. The viewer, too, gets on edge about Carter Hayes. How do you make a guy like this get the f*ck out of your home? (That's one of the great elements of suspense, in a way, we feel like the invasion of Patty and Drake's home is like an invasion of our own. That's just how powerful a character like Carter Hayes is). And Drake's form of vigilante justice isn't the smartest way of handling the situation, using fists of fury rather than intellect, which seems to only exacerbate the couple's problems. In fact, Patty is the one responsible for the fantastic events that create one of the best revenge scenes and really give Carter Hayes his own just deserts.
Pacific Heights really is a fantastic thriller. Some might not appreciate Matthew Modine being cast as Drake here. A part like this might've called for someone less dorky, since Drake wasn't really a straggly guy, he was just a guy who wanted to get rid of Carter too fast without really thinking about the smartest way of going about it. However, Melanie Griffith works great in her role as Patty. Nonetheless, it is really good stuff, a thriller that you're sure to enjoy!