Movie of the Day: January 24, 2003

IMDb Movie of the Day
A vicious little movie that hits all the right notes of queasiness and dread, The Hand that Rocks the Cradle is a studio thriller that's off-kilter just enough to make you wonder what's going on underneath the surface. A slick, suburban-pretty product of Disney's Touchstone Pictures, this movie could be dismissed as a Lifetime television knockoff were is not for the blonde intensity of Rebecca De Mornay, who enjoyed a brief career resuscitation as Peyton Flanders, nanny from hell. When suburban mom Claire (Annabella Sciorra, minus her sassy edge) decides she needs a nanny to help with her newborn son and six year-old daughter, up pops Peyton, who's pretty, helpful, supportive... and packing an agenda that would get her a restraining order in a heartbeat, if anyone knew about it. The audience knows from the get-go about Peyton's vendetta, so part of the icky fun is watching this nasty nanny put her plan into action, as she slowly alienates Claire from her husband and children. Up until it reverts to a whack-a-mole psycho ending, Hand provides thrilling little jolts of household unease, thanks primarily to director Curtis Hanson (L.A. Confidential, 8 Mile), who back then was a genre director who knew how to ladle on the pulp and the suspense just enough to make all the dubious and cliched proceedings go down smoothly. He's ably supported by De Mornay, a venomous snake dressed in Ralph Lauren, and a new-to-the-big-screen Julianne Moore, whose turn as Claire's real estate agent gal-pal cuts through all the thriller contrivances. Seeing Peyton for what she is, she's not about to put up with any crap... that is, until she finds herself in Peyton's sights. De Mornay never did capitalize on her good fortune, but her performance is an effective, memorable reinterpretation of the iconic blonde femme fatale as maternal threat -- a woman who could take your man and your kids in one fell swoop. (more)

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