De Palma's homage to Antonioni's Blow Up is an excellent thriller - stylishly directed, well acted and gripping till the shocking end. Highly recommended.

De Palma once again trespasses on Hitchcock territory dressing up this political conspiracy thriller with clever use of sound and cinema visuals that are now a hallmark of most of his films. Jack Terry (Travolta) is a sounds-effects recorder who specialises in sound effects for trashy porn-slasher films. One night while recording, he hears a tire blow out and sees a car swerve off a bridge and into the water. He dives in and saves a prostitute Sally (Nancy Allen) who was in the car with the now drowned politician. Memories of Chappaquidick! Everyone is convinced that it was an accident but Jack, playing back his recording, hears something on his tape...a gunshot that precedes the blow out. Using Sally as his bait, he is determined to get to the bottom of the mystery.

The film is brilliantly executed, suspenseful and grabs the viewer's attention from the start. De Palma's assured direction and the involving plot means that there is more depth to this film than his other efforts which usually fall victim to more style than content. The performances are are of a high calibre and the film deserves much more credit than it received at the time of its release.