Frantic

R

Released Feb 26, 1988

2h 0m

Mystery & Thriller

Crime

Drama

List

77%

43 Reviews

Tomatometer

64%

10,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

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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Critics Consensus

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

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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

Steve C

I Hope The Smoking Man's In This One Like Harrison Ford I'm Getting Frantic Like Sting I'm Tantric Like Snickers, Guaranteed To Satisfy Like Kurasawa I Make Mad Films Okay I Don't Make Films But If I Did They'd Have A Samurai

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

06/30/23

Full Review

Tanya

Not only has this movie NOT held up well over time, it's that predictable Polanski / Coppola trap where they get so wrapped up in this pseudo-profundity of ‘storytelling' that the story is barely an afterthought. They trip over their own feet - oops, their owns egos & the rest of us, for some reason, are never willing to say, "the emperor has no clothes." A young shirtless or naked Harrison Ford _almost_ makes up for it. Frasier references: 1. Star Trek references: zero.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

06/24/23

Full Review

Pedro G

Buena película, una cinta con una historia que prometía mucho mas a mi parecer. Es una película muy entretenida, con una trama que te mantiene enganchado desde el primer momento ya que a los veinte minutos ya ocurre el hecho del que trata casi toda la película. Toda la primera parte de la cinta y hasta la mitad me parece excelente, te presenta a los personajes y al entorno en el que viven, así como el conflicto que sucede y como vas investigando todo junto al protagonista me encanta. Ya para la segunda mitad el protagonista se encuentra con una chica y juntos intentar resolver el caso, todo esto mucho no me gusto y ya no siento el mismo tono misterioso de la primera mitad, lo cual no me gusta mucho. Otra cosa que no me gusto es que tiene escenas algo tontas o ridículas, así como el final que tampoco me gusto. La dirección de Roman Polanski me pareció muy buena, así como la banda sonora compuesta por Ennio Morricone la cual me parece brillante. Por ultimo, las actuaciones son excelentes, principalmente las de Harrison Ford, Emmanuelle Seigner y Betty Buckley. En conclusión, una buena película de misterio la cual me resulta rara por el gran cambio que hay en la calidad de la cinta comparando el principio y toda la segunda mitad de la cinta, pero creo que es una buena película, bastante entretenida y disfrutable. La recomiendo.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

06/22/23

Full Review

steven a

Ford delivers his usually reliable performance, and brings an everyman feel to his character. However, Polanski takes the film down an increasingly absurd road as character actions become more illogical. The film is also lacking in the build of tension with performances, like Polanski and Brach's script, remaining low-key for the most part.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

03/30/23

Full Review

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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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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

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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
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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