It’s dated now because it is hard to imagine a time when there were no mobile phones, gps trackers, ring cameras, etc. An American tourist trying to find his missing wife in a foreign city was a lot harder back then. It had more impact on an ‘80s audience.
shareHarrison Ford agreed with you. From the IMDb trivia page:
Harrison Ford thought that "Frantic" was a misleading title for the film as the script didn't have a frantic pace. He suggested that "Moderately Disturbed" would be a more appropriate title.
He proved me right!
shareIsn't it just a reference to Ford himself? The first 30 minutes of the movie, you definitely feel Ford being Frantic about his wife disappearing. Obviously, the pacing changes once Michelle appears in the film.
shareI agree the tone is off in this film. It's not a bad film but given the plot outline and who it's directed by it wasn't the film i was expecting.
It's kind of more like a caper like North by Northwest
It definitely has some Hitchcockian tropes, some even say its Polanski's attempt at Hitchcock but yes there is a tonal change in the film once Michelle arrives. There is also some unspoken romantic/sexual tension between Walker and Michelle with that extended dance sequence. Critics like Roger Ebert said it was unnecessarily long but it was obviously a deliberate choice by Polanski to highlight Walker being tempted. Even the ending, it feels as if Walker is trying to convince himself of his love for his wife while obviously being devastated by Michelle's death.
shareReminds me of a film that i haven't seen but heard of it's quite famous i think it's by that Antonioni (the Adventure?) where his girlfriend goes missing and the man and her female friend wander around looking for her but fall in love
After hearing this sounds like Polanski did a bait and switch so i might have to watch it again and remember it's not really a thriller