From the Terrace is, of course, not fresh on the screen. It was made in my world, in a time of more authentic lives. No exploding car chases and gunfire. Unbridled passions....all designed to rivet your attention for a brief while and leave you gasping. Instead, I watched a pleasant story by a talented author, re-scripted with a certain style and dignity for what was once revered as the 'silver screen'. Lives certainly much different from mine. It gave me a look at people who I was pleased to think of as real in their world while understanding full well it was never thicker than everyday, paper-thin Hollywood. That's why Hollywood is Hollywood....there to crank up passions which appeal to a wide array of welcoming minds. It was easy to buy into the relationship between Alfred and Natalie. To dislike Mrs. Eaton and Dr. Roper. Every character played to perfection, their origins lifted from John O'Hara's novel. I'll enjoy watching From the Terrace again next year.

It sort of floated along without much genuine plot foundation. Every scene was a set-up for the next few dialogue exchanges. Then it moved on again, wallowing along. All the way to the end.

You know...I watch movies to be entertained. I don't watch movies to analyze characters and plotlines and be critical. This has been a fun watch several times despite the finest critical minds crucifying it over and over. The thing has a nice flow. The characters are interesting. At the end, it's always time well spent and that's what it's all about. Audience ratings are more in touch with reality. We pay the money to see the shows. The professional reviewers get it for nothing except their razor sharp, caustic remarks. These are usually predictable when the movie has been made at the cost of millions with an all-star cast. Fine. We see the glass from different angles. Just to be clear.

Great movie to watch again periodically. Proof that a movie can be engaging without the colorful language and special effects appearing on many screens today. Without snappy comebacks to every remark....as though some actual thought was considered before you heard an answer to some remark. Nicely paced. Touched upon a variety of feelings which might have existed in those times. I realize life was far more challenging then. Gullible I suppose, I do think that a situation similar to this might have occurred in those more rugged times. The entire movie is a pleasure to settle back and enjoy on a rainy night. More than once.

On the shelf here for ten years. Should have left it there. Characters are fine but the dialogue and the story remained beyond reach for the half hour I watched. Maybe the rest borders on great. I'll never know. Framed guy being interrogated by a government terrorist investigation unit. "Get down. GET DOWN!," an unexpected (!) telephone voice commands. "You have four seconds!" You can see a helicopter just outside the window crashing into the wall of the government building. Framed guy survives at minute 28. This story is Big Brother on steroids. Come on.