A PERFECT MURDER A film review by David N. Butterworth Copyright 1998 David N. Butterworth
*** (out of ****)
Perhaps I should preface this review by stating, for the record, that I happen to love Michael Douglas.
Well, I'm not *in* love with him. Gwyneth Paltrow is in love with him. Well, not Gwyneth Paltrow exactly, but the character she plays in her latest film, one Emily Bradford. Well, she *was* in love with him, presumably at some point (not Michael Douglas per se, but the character he plays, Emily's husband Steven Taylor). But now Emily, as the movie opens, is in love with Viggo Mortensen. Well, the character *he* plays that is, emerging--and chronically handsome--artist David Shaw.
So here we have a problem. Emily's married to Steven but she's in love with David. Steven, who knows it, is set to inherit a tidy sum if his wife, er, expires. Hmm... How are we going to rectify this situation? Well how about a juicy little murder for starters?
Yes. That would certainly resolve a thing or two. And it's certainly the least we can expect from a movie called "A Perfect Murder," loosely based on Alfred Hitchcock's "Dial M for Murder."
In Hitch's 1953 film, Ray Milland schemes to knock off his lovely wife (played by the even lovelier Grace Kelly) in order to bolster his flagging bank balance. His cause is also "justified" by the fact that his wife is guilty of cheating on him.
In this '90's update, Michael Douglas has similar designs on Gwyneth Paltrow's cashflow, even though he's filthy rich himself (Douglas plays yet another one of his classic "greed is good" banker-broker-commodities-trader-dealer-investor types. It's a role Douglas could play in his sleep ... and probably does! Emily's passionate trysts with the afore-mentioned David provide Steven with similar "justification" for orchestrating her timely demise.
The twist? Steven entertains his wife's lover and makes him an offer he can't refuse: $500,000 tax free. "For just walking away from her?" asks the painter with, it turns out, a scurrilous past (handy for blackmailing purposes). "I said tax free, I didn't say free. You get $100,000 now and $400,000 later." "For what?" "Killing my wife." Well, we've all seen the previews...
OK, so it's not the most pleasant proposition on the planet but the way Douglas says "my wife" is totally delicious. I mean, I bet he's said it a million times before in a million different movies but it's the sort of phrase you want to record on a dictaphone and play back to yourself over and over. "My wife." It's got that mean, menacing, rasping quality that gives you the shivers. Damn, that Michael Douglas is good!
"A Perfect Murder" is a slick, smart, sexy, and satisfying thriller from director Andrew Davis ("The Fugitive"). The film is well cast--everyone and everything is gorgeous looking--and it doesn't insult the intelligence like some other hack psychodramas. There are the requisite twists and turns and the murder weapon--a pair of scissors in the original--is tastefully inspired, if a little too telegraphed, this time out (causing this reviewer to mutter under his breath "he's done!").
Davis' film is less than perfect--the ending briefly descends into slasher flick-dom for one thing--but it's a murderously fun way to spend a couple of hours in a darkened movie theater with or, preferably, without "my wife."
-- David N. Butterworth dnb@mail.med.upenn.edu
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