Play Misty for Me – Review

Dave Garver (Eastwood) overlooks the ocean from the deck of a baller ass house. Jumping into an incredible drop top Jaguar, he smashes along the Californian highway toward the city, tunes blasting and hair flapping in the wind. A typical evening for this dude.

He pulls up at work as the sun sets, as evening DJ at station KRML with 5 hours of music. He takes over for his pal Al Monte (McEachin) who runs the prior shift. He answers an incoming caller request who simply says “play Misty for me” alluding to a jazz composition, which is a familiar caller for Dave. He says he’ll get the request on, and takes another call. Typical business again for a late-night tune player.

At the end of his shift, he goes to a familiar bar for beers, and almost hits on a hottie, but the barkeep Murphy (Siegel) tells him not to bother since guys have tried all night and struck out. She’s waiting for someone. Murphy and Garver play a game of… honestly, I have no idea what they are doing, but Dave wins the game and it draws the attention of the hottie who introduces herself as Evelyn Draper (Walter).

She says she has been stood up on a date, so her and Dave pair up for the night. Dave thinks he has lucked out! At his apartment they talk and get close, but then… Evelyn admits she did not get stood up. She was actually hoping that DAVE may show up. She listens to his show all the time and noted that he goes to that bar sometimes.

Dave sees ZERO red flags and they hit the sheets. Clearly this is totally cool DJ shit, just fans ready to show appreciation for his keen ability to play other people’s art works. Boom goes the dynamite. So, since there are no red flags, there are clear waters ahead for this new couple and the movie ends. Roll credits.

Play Misty for Me is a pretty solid little thriller about batshit crazy fanatics. I mean, an attractive semi-stalker-ish girl can be okay in the right circumstances, but it always sucks when people get stabby. Eastwood is always good, but Walter steals the show, and this was an interesting story choice to do as a first-time director. Despite the 70s pacing this crime thriller ain’t bad. Its runtime is short enough to keep it moving and Evelyn should keep you on your toes.