On S List of Movie Reviews

(For optimum viewing, adjust the zoom level of your browser to 125%.)

---

The Slender Thread (1965)

Rate: 5
Viewed: 1/25

1/25: The Slender Thread is the first Hollywood picture directed by Sydney Pollack.

It's about somebody at the suicide call center saving a woman's life. That being said, I didn't really care. If she wants to kill herself, so be it. That's her prerogative. What can everybody else do if she doesn't feel the connection with people? Okay, after the woman is saved, then what? How are things going to be better if everything is still the same? Hence, it has to start from within to find meaning in life.

The only part I can't believe is the sheer waste of resources and people trying to save Anne Bancroft's character. Hence, I like what the doctor did at the hospital: if she wants to be admitted, please fill out the form, and he'll look over her when he has the time. How Sidney Poitier's character felt at the end is A Patch of Blue all over again: having done the good deed, and...next, please.

Sidney Poiter starts out with contrived acting and then gets better over time until he's at his vintage best. Anne Bancroft is fine and tries what she can do but fails to be sympathetic enough. The rest of the cast isn't any better. To make things interesting, Sydney Pollack should've taken the time to explain how tracing phone calls works.

All in all, The Slender Thread is too mundane.

---