MovieChat Forums > Pacific Heights (1990) Discussion > Did anyone else..... *spoilers included*

Did anyone else..... spoilers included

posted 15 years ago by georgiemyler
6 replies | jump to latest

Did anyone else like Keaton's character much more than Griffiths' and Modine's?
Right up until Patty had the miscarriage, I thought Carter was more interesting and I liked him more than either Drake (who I disliked throughout the film) and Patty (who I only really felt for after she had the miscarriage and took her revenge on Carter). Drake, while I could sympathize with him in theory, was
1) Stupid. Okay, his letting Carter move in before he'd paid was just naive, but the way he allowed Carter to goad him into acting like either a total d*ck or a raving loony was stupid. He was such an easy target. I found myself laughing when he was swearing at the cops, because hearing this pretty boy yuppie using the f-word was just hilarious, and ridiculous, especially when countered by Carter's coolness and politeness.
2) A closet racist. That crap about minority scam artists. Excellent that the real scammer was the respectable looking white guy, and the guy Drake thought might be a 'minority scam artist' was actually a cop!
3) Pretty useless. Patty was the one who worked out how to exact revenge on Carter, and she was even better at painting/decorating/repair work than he was. All he seemed to do was get pissed off, swear a lot, drink, and do really dumb things.

Up until she lost her baby, Patty grated on me a bit too, it was that whole cutesy, blonde, baby-doll-voiced, stuff. I didn't dislike her as I did Drake but she did grate quite a bit. As one of the imdb reviewers put it she represented 'what everyone loves to hate about the girl-next-door'.
Until Patty/Griffiths really came into her own towards the end of the movie, Carter was by far the most interesting and complex character for me, the one who held my interest.

[–] Ilovehandbagsandshoes 15 years ago

*spoilers*
The important thing I find to remember about Patty is that she did not 'instinctively' trust Carter. She held back and actually found out he lied to get in the house. He actually lies twice, once by keeping back the other tenant's application by presumably tampering with the mail..later in the police station the officer says to Patty: I DID SEND MY APPLICATION IN TO YOU. And, by not having had the telephone conversation he said he had had with her prior to the interview with Drake "I never spoke to him before". So she represents the voice of caution, which I think she did OK.

My problem is with Drake. I usually really like Matt Modine, but what on earth was he thinking when he lunges straight into this caricature of himself. He overacts, strikes-out at Patty, throws his arms around all over the place like a bad actor on a bad audition. Even if he was playing someone who was not 'really wise' at this whole rental game, he just over-acted and sent himself up, I thought. Fact is, he was totally wrong about Carter, he had been tricked, conned or whateva and instead of apologising to Patty and keeping his head, he acts like a stroppy 6-year old losing at little league.

I agree, Carter was good. He was icy-cold-good. Hidden depths to this actor, or what?

[–] nitro-bleach 15 years ago

He didn't tamper with the cops application did he? I thought it was just ignored when the Asian couple moved in. One of the delivery people (or possibly family) stepped on it and then threw it in a box that was getting chucked out.

[–] pumpkinspikepie-1 15 years ago

Right.

[–] lavashop 15 years ago

No, I like Melanie from the beginning.
Her character's hubby played by Modine irritating me to no end.
He was of no help to her and he was hindering her.
It didn't take her character's miscarriage to make me like Melanie Griffith cause I was a fan since Working Girl.

But between a toss up of who I like least, I would have to say it was Carter played by Keaton. While Modine was inept at keeping cool, Carter/Keaton was just a low life out to scam people.
That's the most deplorable quality anyone can have.
Yucks.
I was so glad he got nailed in the end.

[–] junkjunk247 14 years ago

I liked Griffith. I found her to be very calm and rational...unlike many women. She's intelligent and doesn't flip out like her husband does...which only made the situations worse when he did flip out. In the beginning she is supposed to have a more reserved demeanor...which she does. She progressively gets stressed out to the point she can't take it anymore and takes revenge because the law is clearly not on her side. Wonderful performance.

[–] sydnivt 14 years ago

I'm so glad I'm not the only one. I've read a couple times how people like Modine. What? His character is annoying as all get out. All he does is yell and be stupid. His stupidity (and closeted racism) is the whole reason this movie happens. Screaming in his pregnant girlfriend's face, cursing at the cops, fighting Keaton. So dumb. He just looked like an ignorant frat boy who was used to getting his way all the time and didn't know how to operate under any other circumstances without screaming.

"I saw this robbery comin from a mile away, which is why I shoved my car keys up my ass"