Rish Outfield's reviews
So, Donald Sutherland and Julie Christie are married, and have two children. One of them, a little girl, drowns in their backyard, and then suddenly, the couple is in Venice, where he's restoring an old cathedral. She begins to associate with two English sisters, one of whom is a psychic, and is told that their deceased daughter is trying to warn them of danger. More stuff happens too!
It is a good indication that I'm a man of my times by the fact that I was bored out of my mind by a film just over quarter of a century old. Tyranist and I had heard more-than-glowing things about Don't Look Now, including a recent poll that cited it as the "scariest movie of all time," beating out such mainstays as The Exorcist, Carrie, and The Journey of Natty Gann.
Well, for the most part, I didn't enjoy Don't Look Now, I didn't understand half of it, and I was never, ever scared. I think most of it was due to the artistic, almost experimental nature of the film. Several images repeated throughout the film and due to clever editing, I seldom understood exactly what was going on. Very little was explained, and I found few moments to be satisfying. The acting was fine, the direction good, the Italian atmosphere was neat, but I'm just a fan of straightforward narrative filmmaking, and this just wasn't it.
Best Scare: There was a creepy visual or two, and something that happens at the climax was pretty frightening, but I shan't give it away (except to say that it was some sort of dwarf thing).
I'd Recommend It To: I personally didn't like the film, but everyone else really seems to. You might want to ignore me this time around.

The tyranist's thoughts
Having heard so much about how scary this one is, Rish and I eventually had to track it down and check it out. The major obstacle to this was that it wasn't in the horror section when we finally found it. No, it was in the mystery section instead. I wouldn't say that this was really either one.
Donald Sutherland plays a character gifted with a second sight. But he doesn't know it. After his daughter dies in a drowning accident he and his wife are in Venice to renovate an old chapel. The psychic visions persist and soon his wife (played attractively by Julie Christie) has become fast friends with a couple of old British ladies, one of whom shares the same gift. They are warned to leave Venice but you know how people never listen.
I like Donald Sutherland and he does a pretty good job with this role. The real problem was in the editing and really the randomness of the script. I defy anyone to explain large portions of the movie to me without having to shrug their shoulders at least once. It just doesn't flow. The choppiness of the story isn't helped by the fact that it looks like an overly ambitious film student did the editing. Some sequences are so confusingly edited that they make the latest MTV videos make sense. Now, the edits are never as fast as on MTV, but they are confusing nonetheless. You'll know when you see it.
I'd almost recommend seeing this movie based on the fact that it has won so much acclaim alone, but really that is up to you. You don't have to see a movie because everyone else loves it. Especially in this case.