Director: Massimiliano Cerchi
Writer: David Schifter (Screenplay)
Starring: Michael Pare, Nicholas Turturro, Krista Grotte Saxon, Vanessa Ore, David Schifter
Plot: A man covering up a crime assumes a nosy neighbor may have seen what he did. He turns the neighbor’s lives upside down to keep his secret. But is there more to his motive?
Tagline – Sometimes it’s best to mind your own business.
Runtime: 1 Hour 28 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Story: The Penthouse starts when Peter (Schifter) and Amanda Wright (Ore) move into a penthouse apartment overlooking the bay area, where they see one boat remain there longer than they expected, owned by Charles (Pare) and his girlfriend Tess (Saxon) that he is always controlling.
When Tess vanishes, Peter and Amanda start getting concerned and after they confront Charles about her, they find their own lives turned upside down.
Thoughts on The Penthouse
Thoughts – The Penthouse brings us another modern attempt to bring us a version of Rear Window, with an overly nosey neighbor finding themselves caught up in the middle of a crime that doesn’t easily get explained. This is one doesn’t seem to bring anything to the original story, with the basics of the story being here, nothing seems to end up feeling inspiring. The characters do seem flat, with the couple overlooking the bay being out of their depth, while the villainous Charles never gets played out to have any sense of innocence about what is going on, which is what makes the story feel more unique. This does have one of the biggest anti-climaxes that will leave us feeling empty as it isn’t even shot well.
Final Thoughts – The Penthouse is a flat thriller that has the idea right, only ending up feeling empty.
