To Die For
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Movie Reviews of To Die For
Movie Review: NICOLE DOES NASTY
Summary: 4 Stars
Gus Van Sant's deliciously dark comedy features a "killer" performance from Nicole Kidman. Kidman won the Golden Globe's Best Actress in a Comedy award and righteously so. She plays a devious, cunning and psychopathic young woman who will do anything to assure her success as a broadcast star. She weds a gullible Matt Dillon who wants nothing more than to settle down, have kids and run his father's nightclub with Kidman's undivided attention. Aha--Kidman has other plans for her future. She persuades via sexual favors another gullible man, this time a teenaged Joaquin Phoenix (in a remarkably good performance) to help her get rid of Dillon so she and he can go off to California to make television history.
While the territory is somewhat familiar, it is Kidman's on target performance that elevates this dark little comedy to its heights of excellence. George Segal has an uncredited cameo as a t.v. exec who lets Kidman know what she needs to do to succeed, and good support is also garnered from Dan Hedaya, Casey Affleck and Holland Taylor as well.
TO DIE FOR is a cynically engaging little dramedy which established Kidman as an actress to watch out for.
Movie Review: Blind ambition gone wrong
Summary: 4 Stars
Suzanne Stone (Nicole Kidman) will do anything to be the next Barbara Walters. She starts out as a small town weather girl and while making a documentary with some high school students, hatches a diabolical scheme to kill her husband (Matt Dillon) whose ambitions don't match her own.
Loosely based on the true story of Pamela Wojas Smart, this movie is a clever black comedy focusing on the blind ambition of Kidman's character. She plays her as an outwardly dumb blonde who is, in fact, ruthless and willing to do anything to be famous. Joaquin Phoenix plays Stone's teenage lover who blindly carries out her plan. He's quite young-looking and completely believable as the adolescent pawn in her deadly chess game.
The story is filmed like a documentary, in keeping with Suzanne's goal of being a celebrated interviewer. Having the characters speak into the camera reduces the tension but increases the humor, as most of the people involved are completely gullible and fall under Suzanne's spell. It's a macabre story played mostly for laughs with good acting all around.
Movie Review: Dark comedy from decade ago
Summary: 4 Stars
Ten years ago, I enjoyed To Die For as a brilliant dark comedy that most of the rest of the world just didn't seem to "get." Watching it a decade later on DVD, some of the thrill is lost. It's still a decent black comedy with Nicole Kidman as an absolutely wicked manipulator of a woman, but the laughs I remember just aren't there.
I do enjoy the storytelling style. We all know what is going to happen (Kidman is going to hire her teenage lovers to kill he husband), so the director has a challenge of keeping the audience's interest until that point. This is accomplished by unfolding Kidman's career and rise to the top through a series of first-person narratives by the different characters in the story. It's almost as if the family members and friends are being interviewed by a TV news camera after the climax of the story, and the technique is very well done.
If you like offbeat, dark cinema, give this one a shot, but don't expect award-winning drama.
Movie Review: A Strange And Fascinating Story
Summary: 4 Stars
This is a different story and definitely interesting. The movie is listed as a comedy but it's more of a drama. Yes, the comedy is there but it's dark humor and there is violence and tragedy here. It's fascinating, every time I watch it.
Nicole Kidman is very good as the beautiful and ruthless blonde who has big television ambitions. I don't know if I ever saw Kidman look this pretty, which is saying a lot. Matt Dillon co-stars and is excellent, too, as are the two young no-name actors, Joaquin Phoenix and Allison Foland. Ironically, Phoenix went on to become a big star. When this movie came out, few people knew him.
Illena Douglas gives an underrated performance and I always enjoy the odd Dan Hedaya. Anyway, if you want to see something definitely different in the way of a story, this movie falls in that category.
Movie Review: Good, but sometimes it was To Die of boredom For
Summary: 4 Stars
Nicole Kidman and Matt Dillon play their parts very well and are support by a great cast including Joaquin Phoenix and Illeana Douglas. Kidman's character quickly comes into focus as someone that most of us probably didn't like when we were in school. She lies, cheats, and panders with the best of them. Matt Dillon's role changes over time. He seems to go from a lady's man to one that is ready to make a commitment. Phoenix and Douglas fill their roles very believably. The cast was wonderful.
The only reason I rated this less than excellent were problems I had with the script/editing. The movie seemed to move all over the place at points for no logical reason. Because of the somewhat jarring approach the ending seemed to be a forgone conclusion. The real thoughtful challenge was how it going to there.