SLIVER (1993) A "Turkey of the Week" film review by Justin Felix Copyright 1998 Justin Felix
Rating: *** (out of five)
Screenplay by Joe Eszterhas. Based on a novel by Ira Levin. Directed by Philip Noyce. Starring Sharon Stone, William Baldwin, Tom Berenger, Martin Landau. Unrated version (contains nudity, violence, and profanity) 108 mins.
Synopsis: Carly, a divorced, unhappy, 35-year-old book editor who must work with intensely annoying, sex-starved Judy, moves into a dream apartment where she meets an elderly, lonely professor and a has-been novelist who likes to scare jogging women in Central Park. Carly then begins an affair with a young technogeek while a bunch of people are murdered in the apartment building and someone watches it all with video cameras.
Comments: Three stars may be giving SLIVER a little more credit than it deserves. It's a big-budget turkey slammed by many critics when it was first released, I won't deny. Despite its many faults, however, SLIVER does warrant a second look.
How do I come to that conclusion? Though it is sometimes compared to REAR WINDOW (and I do see the resemblance), SLIVER's plot still strikes me as unique. In fact, the interesting plot makes one want the movie to be better than it really is. I have never read a novel by Ira Levin (who wrote the book from which this film is based), but Levin's work has provided the basis for a number of classic science fiction and horror movies over the years, most notably ROSEMARY'S BABY and THE STEPFORD WIVES and its inevitable sequels. SLIVER deals with a dark subject, voyeurism, and the chilling possibilities open to a voyeur with developing technologies. Allow me to suggest, for a moment, something which I rarely see suggested about SLIVER. Yes, it is obviously an erotic thriller (Sharon Stone strips naked frequently and makes out with William Baldwin while a murderer runs around cancelling out his victims), but it is also a science fiction film. Good science fiction often takes a part (a sliver, if you'll accept a bad pun) of modern day society and exaggerates it. In SLIVER, the apartment's owner secretly installs video cameras in every room of the building for the express purpose of spying on his tenants. Sitting in an enclosed room, he watches over these people as if he were God. Two walls of television sets, a giant TV in the center, a computer console, and a remote control make up the majority of his equipment, which apparently set him back 6 million dollars. He can zoom in and out on everyone, and record anything which goes on. This massive invasion of privacy is frightening when thought about (imagine every moment in every day of your life being secretly filmed), and it is here where a major motif of science fiction resides: the dangers of emerging technologies put to unethical use.
The novelty of the storyline, however, does not excuse Joe Eszterhas's weak screenplay. SLIVER is riddled with poor dialogue. Granted, poor dialogue can sometimes be unintentionally funny, but in SLIVER's case, Eszterhas tries to be clever and funny intentionally. The lines, therefore, only end up receiving groans from the audience. Carly and another tenant discuss moving in an early scene, for example, and the tenant says moving is "worse than anal intercourse." They share a chuckle. The audience doesn't. Or, how about this for awful? Judy, the most annoying coworker to ever stumble into a movie (get down on your knees and *pray* you never have to work with someone like Judy), suggests "Pearl Jam [is] some sort of oriental sex thing." Ugh!
Another criticism of SLIVER is that it moves too slowly during the first half. To be honest, I'm not sure if the screenwriter or the director is at fault, or if the reason lies in the fact that I'm reviewing the unrated version over the R-rated theatrical version (from my estimate, though, only about a minute was added to the unrated version). Carly's introductions to the main characters feel contrived, and her "steamy" scenes both with Zeke Hawkins (Baldwin) and without are drawn out much longer than they need to be.
For an erotic thriller, SLIVER possesses a very talented and experienced cast of actors. Sharon Stone ... well, she's Sharon Stone, and she delivers what you'd expect to see after her career-making performance in BASIC INSTINCT. William Baldwin looks like a geeky freak, which is good considering the sleazy character he plays, and he turns in a goofy but enjoyable performance. Veteran actors Tom Berenger and Martin Landau seem to make the best out of their characters (they really aren't offered much thanks to the script).
I cannot conclude this review without mentioning the music. I don't normally have much to say about a film's score or songs, but SLIVER effectively uses a number of dance standards during several key sequences. Most notably, Enigma's "Carly's Loneliness" and UB40's "Can't Help Falling in Love" appear a number of times and serve as fitting themes for Carly and Zeke respectively.
SLIVER certainly has its faults: a slow first half, bad dialogue, and, at times, annoying characters (Judy, for instance). However, a strong concept, a mostly solid cast, and some well-chosen music almost saves it from being a turkey and at least makes the film watchable. The R-rated version may flow a little quicker than the unrated version reviewed here (I saw the R-rated version in the theater when it first came out, so it's been way too long for me to confidently compare the two). SLIVER also has one of the more memorable endings to a thriller that I've ever seen, which is a definate plus because I usually find the conclusions to thrillers cliched and disappointing. Some people I know who have seen this turkey hate it, but I really don't think it's all *that* bad. I'd give it a passing recommendation, but keep in mind that it's certainly not family viewing.
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