Still of the Night 1982 mystery, suspense

​I recall seeing this film with my wife at the local cineplex on a Friday night, and it was sold out. Both Roy Scheider and Meryl Streep were hot stuff at the box office in the 1980’s. The next year Meryl was crowned Goddess of Tinseltown for her famous performance in "Sophie's Choice" (debuted March 1983). Scheider (in a long jump from co-starring in Jaws) plays Dr. Rice, a mild mannered, intelligent psychiatrist. The good doctor gets drawn into the murder investigation of one of his patients (George Bynum) after a visit from Brooke (Streep) a mysterious woman who worked with, and had an affair with the victim. Dr. Rice goes back over notes of his sessions with the victim/patient, including a vivid dream sequence which the audience experiences in the form of flashbacks. We don't get to the bottom of this mystery until Rice does. Gradually, Rice understands the mystery lady (Streep) about whom he only knows through counseling sessions with the victim. She is a striking beauty yet distant and possibly unstable, but Rice falls under her quiet spell like a schoolboy. Indeed, it's a film so carefully measured, so understated that if the story of a scene can be told with no words, then we will hear no words. In this way, it's pure cinema. It's a flow of sequences that build a dark, quiet stairway of tension. "Still of the Night" creates an eerie atmosphere and a strangely memorable film. Streep is excellent as the alluring Viking blonde with secrets. Scheider is a believable psychiatrist, and Jessica Tandy does a nice turn as his mother and mentor in a brief supporting role. Recommended for lovers of mystery movies and those who have not seen much early Streep; she is great in this film. The lack of vulgarity, sleaze, cell phones and computers gives this movie a welcome retro-vibe.

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