De Palma's NORTH BY NORTHWEST

Costner really stinks it up here. Also, Elliott Ness got half his crew - and countless other civilians - killed for what? To put one dude away? REAL COP BEHAVIOUR.

PROHIBITION WAS A SHAM.

Anyway. Split diopter (especially in that church), Morricone, Connery tearing it up, Charles Martin Smith going on a shotgun rampage, the Odessa steps swipe. NICE SUITS. De Niro a world away from HI, MOM! while clubbing his goon to death.

It's De Palma working light after two bombs, but.. c'mon. It's still De Palma.

How about a sequel to The Wizard of Oz except there's no songs, none of your favorite characters return, and everything is fucking terrifying?

It looks great. It - perhaps ironically - sounds great. The acting is fine, particularly from Jean Dujardin and Uggie the dog. But while the novelty of a modern silent film is fun (with all due respect to Mel Brooks SILENT MOVIE), it feels more like a stylistic exercise or a short film stretched to feature length rather than a complete work. It's so slight and breezy, and instantly forgettable.