Pacific Heights Movie Review 383

  
Pacific Heights is a 1990 thriller directed by John Schlesinger and starring Matthew Modine, Melanie Griffith and Michael Keaton.Drake Goodman(Modine) and his girlfriend Patty Palmer(Griffith) buy a house in San Francisco. They plan to rent out two apartments in it. It is a very expensive house in a very good area called Pacific Heights. The first tenants are a Japanese couple called the Watanabes and they are no trouble. The next tenant is a suave guy called Carter Hayes(Keaton). He seems to have money and they like him.

He has a problem with a credit check and he manages to get Drake to leave it and gets him references instead. He tells Drake that he will pay the first six months by wire transfer and that satisfies Drake. Hayes decides to move in unannounced and he locks himself into the apartment without his money being paid. Over the next few days, it happens that the money is not going to be paid and Hayes is making weird noises in the apartment. Drake gets worried and tries to get inside but the locks have been changed. Drake wants to cut the heat and electricity to get him out, but Hayes calls the cops and
Drake is warned that he will be in trouble if he does that.

This begins a cat and mouse game between Hayes and the couple. Drake attacks him and gets arrested and Hayes gets a restraining order to keep him from coming back. Patty is alone and Hayes terrorizes her. Drake comes back to the building and is shot by Hayes who then disappears. The cops finally get inside the apartment and everything has been stripped and gone. Patty finds a photograph of Hayes and finds out that his real name is James Danforth. She goes to speak to one of his references and finds out that he was disowned by his family and that he is very dodgy. Patty traces his girlfriend and finds out that Danforth assumed Carter Hayes' identity and she shows her a postcard from him and Patty finds out where he is now.

She finds his hotel and gets into his room and goes through his stuff. She finds out that he has been using Drake's identity. She calls Drake and tells him to cancel his credit cards etc. She gets Danfroth into trouble by making a huge room service order and when he can't pay, he is arrested. He is bailed out by his next victim and he goes back to San Francisco to get his revenge. There is a fight between him and the couple and he ends up dead. Patty and Drake sell the apartment and move on. This was a good film with a great cast. Keaton is great as the murky Hayes and Modine and Griffith play their parts well. This is a well made thriller and I really enjoyed it. I will give it a 7/10.