Eyes of Laura Mars is an interesting movie in many ways. Watching this slow-burning 1978 thriller I was struck by the location shooting in New York City. The streets and architecture of the city in those days was rife with character. The city was run down at the time, and movies of the era capture that decline. This movie does so as well. Jack Harris became involved with this project when John Carpenter shared an eleven-page treatment for a potential film. Harris saw potential in the story and later so did Jon Peters who came to a deal with both Harris and Carpenter and put it into production with Faye Dunaway starring. She'd just won an Oscar for Network and her name carried a lot of weight at the time. Tommy Lee Jones was an up-and-coming actor at the time and puts in a remarkable performance.
The movie earns its "R" rating with some small upper-frontal nudity. I'd forgotten how models of the era were prized for their slender frames. The girls who share their fetching looks in this one look malnourished to me, but that's probably just a matter of personal taste. The movie is helped to no end by strong performances from both Rene Auberjounos and Brad Dourif. In a movie with a mysterious killer both are well chosen to fill a roster of possible perpetrators. Raul Julia shows up just enough for you not to forget that he too might be the one.
I'm not a particular fan of Barbara Streisand, but her performance of "Prisoner" the theme song for the movie was quite nice. Harris said that when Peters first saw Carpenter's treatment, he first thought of Streisand for the lead. Personally, I'm glad the part was handed to the superior Dunaway. This is pretty good movie, not a great one by any means, but good enough for what it is.
Next time things get really strange when The Adventures of Taura: Star Slammer - The Escape takes the center ring.
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