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The 4th Floor Movie Review

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Sci-Fi/Fantasy Comedy & Personal Dramas Action Dramas
Actors: Juliette Lewis, William Hurt, Shelly Duvall, Austin Pendleton
Review Summary and Plot Commentary about The 4th Floor
Decorator Jane Emelin (Lewis) revels in the privacy of her inherited, rent-controlled New York brownstone while her boyfriend, weatherman Greg Harrison (Hurt) insists she share his Westchester home. She steadfastly remains in her apartment despite the fact that its previous tenant died from a mysterious fall. As she confronts her surly neighbor Martha (Duvall), the over-friendly Mr. Collins (Pendleton), the corpulent super and mysterious written threats, she hears that her downstairs neighbor is an “80-year old woman.” Still, in humorous retaliation, she places her speakers face down blasting rock while skipping rope in ski boots. “You hear that,” she delights. But when maggots and mice appear, she is certain there is some nefarious plot from below. But, of course, neither Greg, her lawyer nor the police believe her. Only when she breaks in to the 4th floor and sees her own floor plan meticulously drawn on the ceiling does she learn the horrifying truth about the legacy of her apartment.
--Angry Jim Magin, Resident Scholar


Analysis of The 4th Floor
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Composition of Movie
Actual chase scenes or violence - 40%
Planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 40%
Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 20%



How difficult to spot villain? - Moderately Challenging
Time/Era of Movie: - 1980's-1999
Murder Mystery? Yes
What % of story relates directly to the mystery, not the subplot? - 90%
Misc. Plotlets - local police have IQ of houseplant
Special suspect? - lover
Kind of mystery? - skilled citizen investigator
Romance Yes

Main Character
Identity: - Female
Profession/status: - artist
Age: - 20's-30's
Is this an ordinary person caught up in events? Yes
Hair color? - blonde
Body type - skinny (woman)
Unclothed? - Chest
Events of movie makes character more... - aggressive
Ethnicity/Nationality - White (American)
How sensitive is this character? - hard edged
Sense of humor - Strong but gentle sense of humor
Intelligence - Smarter than most other characters
Physique - healthy but a geeky weakling

Secondary Main Character
Identity: - Male
Hair color - blonde
Hair style - (man) short/standard wavy
Body type - average build (man)
How much in movie? - 60%
Ethnicity/Nationality - White (American)

Main Adversary
Identity: - Male
Age: - 60's-90's
Profession/status: - not employed but independently wealthy
Eccentric: Yes - mentally ill - emotionally unstable
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in: - 40%
Hair color - red
Body type - average (man)
Ethnicity/Nationality - White (American)
Intelligence - Average intelligence
Physique - average physique
Sense of humor - Mostly serious with occasional humor
How sensitive is this character? - middling sensitive to others' feelings

Setting
United States Yes
The US: - Northeast
City? Yes
City: - New York - dangerous
Misc setting - fancy mansion - building

Style
Accounts of torture and death? - moderately messy visuals of dead
Movie makes you feel... - challenged
How many deaths in film? - 2
Sex/nudity in movie? Yes
What kind of sex: - kissing - seeing breasts
How much use of techno gadgets? - 2 (a little)
Kind of violence: - mission to rescue - mission to destroy something - mental battles - hand to hand - knives
Unusual forms of death - dropped from large heights
Any profanity? - Occasional swearing
If this is a kid's movie... - Ages 10-15
If Soundtrack VERY NOTICEABLE... - Orchestra/classical
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