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Frantic

Play trailer Poster for Frantic R Released Feb 26, 1988 2h 0m Mystery & Thriller Crime Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
77% Tomatometer 43 Reviews 64% Popcornmeter 10,000+ Ratings
While attending a medical conference in Paris, Dr. Richard Walker (Harrison Ford) is horrified when his wife, Sondra (Betty Buckley), is abducted from their hotel room while he is taking a shower. Using his limited knowledge of French language and culture, Walker must navigate the bureaucracy of French law enforcement and ultimately, with the help of street waif Michelle (Emmanuelle Seigner), infiltrate Paris' criminal underworld in order to discover what really happened to his wife.
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Frantic

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Critics Consensus

A tense, on-point thriller in the vein of Polanski's earlier work.

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Critics Reviews

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Ian Nathan Empire Magazine One of the best traditional thrillers to come down the pike in quite some time. Rated: 3/5 Feb 19, 2010 Full Review Jonathan Rosenbaum Chicago Reader [Polanski's] usual surrealism is almost completely absent. Feb 19, 2010 Full Review Variety Staff Variety A thriller without much surprise, suspense or excitement. Oct 18, 2008 Full Review Mike Massie Gone With The Twins The progression of events and the structuring of the plot, steadily escalating toward a volatile climax, are sharply handled. Rated: 7/10 Aug 9, 2023 Full Review Richard Freedman Newhouse News Service There are so many good things in Frantic that one feels irritated the movie as a whole isn't better than it is. It's certainly miles better than Polanski's most recent effort, the disastrous Pirates, but not as good as it should be. Rated: 2.5/4 Nov 15, 2019 Full Review Cathy Burke United Press International It's a film about ordinary people put in unordinary circumstances pressed to extraordinary levels, and the film itself becomes extraordinary by the effort. Dec 9, 2017 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Jerod S Young Harrison is trying to find his wife who disappeared from a Paris hotel room. All over a device with 4 wires. Pretty dull. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 04/04/25 Full Review Farah R A flimsy Polanski thriller that dragged on longer than it needed to, Frantic is mediocre in every way. Even Harrison Ford's decent performance and the captivating streets of Paris in the late 80s couldn't stop my mind from wandering away. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 10/26/24 Full Review Sams K I absolutely love this one, such a great thriller. Great acting performances and a never disappointing Polanski shows another time the master he really is. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 09/15/24 Full Review Test T I watched this on DVD recently. I found the story very engaging, and easy to follow. The acting was effective, and the locations around Paris were interesting. It is quite tense at times, and exciting to watch. Thankfully, the dialogue is in English with only French accents, so there are no subtitles to worry about. I was frustrated by the unhurried pace, which felt too slow during some of the filler scenes. I didn't much like the jazz soundtrack either, especially when it became loud and overt. Otherwise, I enjoyed watching the film, and would recommend it. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 06/09/24 Full Review Agata M A timeless masterpiece. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/07/24 Full Review Chai B There were so many holes in this story it practically made no sense. I would hardly call this a thriller. There was lots of pointless running around and yelling. All the characters were behaving contrary to their best interests. MILD SPOILERS -- the kidnapping made no sense to begin with. And the bad guys were "Arabs". Rated 1 out of 5 stars 07/03/23 Full Review Read all reviews
Frantic

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Cast & Crew

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Roman Polanski

Director

Harrison Ford

Dr. Richard Walker

Emmanuelle Seigner

Michelle

Betty Buckley

Sondra Walker

John Mahoney

U.S. Embassy Official

Jimmie Ray Weeks

Shaap

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Frantic

Frantic (1988) Frantic (1988) View more photos

Movie Info

Synopsis While attending a medical conference in Paris, Dr. Richard Walker (Harrison Ford) is horrified when his wife, Sondra (Betty Buckley), is abducted from their hotel room while he is taking a shower. Using his limited knowledge of French language and culture, Walker must navigate the bureaucracy of French law enforcement and ultimately, with the help of street waif Michelle (Emmanuelle Seigner), infiltrate Paris' criminal underworld in order to discover what really happened to his wife.
Director
Roman Polanski
Producer
Tim Hampton, Thom Mount
Screenwriter
Roman Polanski, Gérard Brach
Distributor
Warner Home Vídeo, Warner Bros.
Production Co
Warner Brothers
Rating
R
Genre
Mystery & Thriller, Crime, Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Feb 26, 1988, Original
Release Date (Streaming)
Aug 18, 2008
Box Office (Gross USA)
$17.5M
Runtime
2h 0m
Sound Mix
Surround
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